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Report  of 


The  V  ice  Commission 
of  Minneapolis 

to 
His  Honor,  James  C.  Haynes,  Mayor 


19  11 


Copyright  1911  by 

Marion  D.  Shutter 

minneapolis,  minn. 


PRKt  or  HiNRY  M.  Hall 

M  rNNCAPOLI* 


Members  of  the  Commission. 

Rev.  Marion  D.  Shutter,  D.  D.,  Chairman, 

Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer. 

EuGFNE  T.  Lies,  Secretary, 

General  Secretary  of  the  Associated  Charities. 

Rev.  Father  James  M.  Cleary, 

Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Incarnation. 

Judge  Edward  F.  Waite, 

Judge  of  the  District  Court. 

Prof.  John  H.  Gray, 

Department  of  Economics,  University  of  Minnesota. 

Prof.  David  H.  Painter, 

Principal  of  the  Adams  Public  School. 

Herbert  O.  Collins,  M.  D., 

City  Physician  and  Superintendent  of  City  Hospital. 

Ma.x  P.  Vander  Horck,  M,  D., 

Professor  of  Dermatology,  Venereal  and  Genito-Urinary  Diseases, 
University  of  Minnesota. 

Edv^ard  J.  Davenport, 

Probation  Officer,  Juvenile  Court. 

Nicholas  C.  O'Connor, 

Secretary  Typographical  Union  No.  42. 

Chas.  M.  Way, 

Minneapolis  Bedding  Co. 

Gilbert  L.  Byron, 

Byron  &  Willard,  Printers. 

Stiles  P.  Jones, 

Secretary  Minneapolis  Voters'  League. 

Mrs.  Mabel  S.  Ulrich,  M.  D., 

Free  Dispensary  for  Working  Girls. 

Mrs.  Mary  L.  Starkweather, 

Special  State  Labor  Commissioner. 


Table  of  Contents. 

Members   of   the   Commission 7 

The  Scope  and  Object  of  the  Commission's  Work 11 

Preliminary    Statement    12 

The  Occasion  of  the  Appointment  of  the  Commission..  12 

The  Task  of  the  Commission   13 

The   Method  of  Procedure    13 

The    Report    IS 

I     State    Laws   and    City    Ordinances 19 

II     Historical   Sketch — Minneapolis    23 

The  Indirect  License  System  23 

Medical  Inspection   24 

Attempt  to  Stop  Illegal  Sale  of  Liquor 25 

Fining  System  Abolished    25 

Number  of  Segregated  Areas   Reduced 26 

III     The  Question  of  Legalizing  Prostitution 31 

A    Restatement    32 

Remarks     33 

The  Continental  System    35 

Break-down   of  the   Continental   System    36 

IV     Toleration  of  Prostitution    39 

The    Argument    40 

V     Prostitution   and    Medical    Inspection 45 

Medical  Inspection  and  Public  Health   46 

Testimony  from  Abroad 47 

Opinions  of  Experts    48 

Minneapolis  Physicians    49 

The   Medical   Sub-Committee    50 

Hennepin   County  Medical  Association    51 

The    Commission's    Conclusions    52 

Sanitary    Inefficiency    52 

Danger    of    Police    Abuses 53 

Involves  Indorsement  by  the  Community 53 

One-sided   and   Unjust    54 

VI  The  Experience  and  Methods  of  Other  Cities 59 

General    Summary    59 

Experiences   with    Segregation    61 

Experiences  with    Law   Enforcement 63 

VII  The  Present  Situation  in  Minneapolis 69 

Sources  of  Information    69 

Existing   Statutes    70 

Street    Walking     71 

The  Dispersion    72 

Segregation   Imperfect    72 

Hotels    and    Rooming    Houses 73 

8 


Table  of  Contents. 

The  Public  Brothel   Eliminated 74 

Modern  Business  Methods  in  Vice 74 

White   Slave  Traffic    75 

Saloon  Restaurants    75 

Venereal   Diseases    76 

Young  Girls  on  Our  Streets 76 

Lack  of  Home  Discipline  77 

The  Public  Dance  Hall   78 

VIII    The  Enforcement   of  Law 81 

The  Other  Side  of  Public  Opinion   81 

Police  Discretion    83 

Business   Interests    84 

Finding  a  Location  for  Segregation 85 

No  One  Wants  Segregation  in  His  Own  Neighborhood  87 

Segregation  Does  Not  Segregate   88 

Not    a   Safeguard 91 

Complicates  Police  Problems  92 

Danger  of  the  White  Slave  Traffic 93 

Source  of  Disease    95 

IX    Conditions,  General  and  Local,  Favorable  to  Law  Enforce- 
ment      99 

The  New  Spirit  Versus  the  "Red  Light"  Districts 100 

Local    Sentiment    100 

Some  New  Forces   101 

X    Recommendations  of  the  Commission 107 

Law   Enforcement    107 

Increased   Police   Vigilance    108 

Co-operation    of    Citizens    109 

Regulation  of  Downtown  Hotels  and  Lodging  Houses..  109 

In  the  Interests  of  Public  Health  and  Safety Ill 

Measures  of  Prevention  112 

(a)  Education    113 

(b)  Larger  Recreation   Facilities   114 

(c)  Better  Economic  Conditions 115 

(d)  Institutions   of  Prevention 116 

Rescue  and   Reform    117 

Permanent  Commission   118 

Conclusion    1 19 

Appendix     123 

Committee  on  Education  Report 123 

Specific  Recommendations    124 

The  Young  Girl  in  Industry 125 

Committee  on  Recreation  Report 129 

Committee  on  Rescue  and  Reform  Report 132 

Notes 134 

(1)  The  Police  and  Evidence 134 

(2)  Segregation  and  Housing  Conditions 134 

9 


The  Scope  anJ  Object  of  tke  Commission's  "Work 

This  Commission  was  appointed  to  study  the  problem  of  the 
Social  Evil  in  Minneapolis,  in  its  public  aspects,  together  with 
related  questions,  for  the  purpose  of  making  specific  recommenda- 
tions for  its  official  treatment.  Among  the  subjects  to  be  included 
in  their  investigations,  were  the  following: 

(a)  The  Size  and  Character  of  the  Problem  of  Social  Vice 
in  Minneapolis,  since  the  closing  of  the  houses  in  the  Sixth  Ward. 

(b)  The  history  of  efforts  to  handle  the  problem  in  Min- 
neapoHs  under  successive  administrations. 

(c)  Methods  and  policies  tried  in  other  cities,  with  results 
attained,  for  such  light  as  might  be  thrown  upon  our  own  problem. 

(d)  Related  questions,  such  as:  Sources  of  Supply;  Pre- 
ventive Measures;  Wages  for  Working  Girls;  Control  of  The- 
atres, Penny  Arcades,  and  Moving  Picture  Shows ;  Education  in 
Sex  Matters,  together  with  questions  of  Rescue  and  Reformation. 

It  was  the  hope  of  his  Honor  the  Mayor  and  of  those  who 
signed  the  petition  for  the  appointment  of  this  Commission,  that 
a  wise  and  practical  policy  would  be  outlined.  The  related  sub- 
jects, your  Commission  found,  as  the  work  progressed,  had  to  be 
treated  with  greater  brevity  than  was  originally  intended.  The 
question  of  an  administrative  policy  assumed  larger  and  larger 
proportions.  Other  questions  we  trust  will  be  considered  as  their 
importance  deserves  by  some  permanent  Commission  which  should 
succeed  the  present  one.  The  members  of  this  Commission 
sincerely  believe  that  their  report,  in  its  main  features,  will  not 
be  disappointing  either  to  His  Honor  or  to  the  Community.  Let 
its  recommendations  be  fairly  and  consistently  tried. 


11 


Preliminary  Statement 

To  His  Honor 

James  C.  Hayncs, 

Mayor  of  Minneapolis. 

In  response  to  a  petition  signed  by  a  large  number  of  citi- 
zens, your  Honor  appointed,  last  summer,  a  commission  of  fifteen 
to  "Consider  the  subject  of  Social  Vice  in  Minneapolis,  and  to 
make  a  report,  with  suggestions  and  recommendations,  by  De- 
cember 31,  1910." 

The  Occasion. 

The  occasion  of  the  appointment  of  this  Commission  was 
tlie  agitation  over  the  closing  of  the  Public  Houses  of  Prostitu- 
tion in  tlie  Sixth  Ward.  When  that  question  came  up,  it  was  the 
desire  of  some  of  those  who  are  now  members  of  this  Commission, 
that  your  Honor  be  asked  to  appoint  such  a  Commission  before 
the  question  then  raised  was  settled.  This  was  the  desire  of  the 
Chairman  himself.  Other  counsels  prevailed  in  the  meetings 
of  citizens;  as  it  was  thought  that  such  a  step  taken  at  that  junc- 
ture would  interfere  with  the  prosecution  of  certain  cases  then  in 
the  courts.  The  houses  of  evil  resort  in  the  Sixth  Ward  were 
closed ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  this  was  done  that  the  present 
Commission  was  appointed.  This  fact  has  made  the  task  of  your 
Commission  somewhat  different  from  what  it  would  otherwise 
have  been.  Your  administration  had  already  adopted,  temporarily 
at  least,  a  certain  policy,  that  of  strictly  enforcing  the  laws  and 
ordinances  against  public  Social  Vice.  When  your  Commission 
began  its  work,  there  was  no  "segregated  district"  in  our  city. 
The  great  question  before  us  has  been  whether  we  should  assume 
the  responsibility  of  advising  the  creation  of  such  a  district  or 
whether  we  should  recommend  the  continuance  of  your  Honor's 
present  policy.  To  this  question  we  have  brought  our  best 
thought  and  most  painstaking  investigation. 

12 


The  Task. 

It  was  understood  that  this  Commission  was  not  to  be  "a 
graft-hunting  or  prosecuting  body;"  but  that  it  was  to  collect 
facts,  interpret  them,  and  draw  conclusions  which,  because  of  the 
personnel  of  its  members,  might  be  regarded  by  all  classes  of 
citizens  as  worth  heeding.  It  was  also  understood  that  "the  Com- 
mission was  to  make  no  attacks  on  present  or  past  administra- 
tions ;  that  it  was  to  keep  clear  of  political  lines  in  its  inquiry,  and 
yet  exercise  the  utmost  diligence  and  courage  in  getting  together 
such  a  body  of  information  as  would  stand  the  test  of  criticism." 
To  this  understanding  we  have  scrupulously  adhered;  and  in 
sketching  the  history  of  dealing  with  Public  Prostitution  in  Min- 
neapolis, we  have  aimed  to  give  the  facts  without  comment  upon 
the  various  administrations.  These  facts  are  instructive,  and  have 
helped  us  in  reaching  present  conclusions. 

The  Method. 

Your  Commission  met  last  August,  organized,  laid  out  the 
scope  of  their  work  and  the  lines  of  investigation  to  be  pursued, 
as  given  upon  a  previous  page.  As  the  work  progressed,  it  be- 
came evident  that  the  Report  could  not  be  prepared  within  the 
time  originally  set.  We  do  not  feel,  even  now,  that  we  have 
exhausted  a  subject  upon  which  libraries  have  been  written ;  but 
we  have  reached  a  few  general  conclusions  which  we  submit  to 
your  Honor.  For  these,  we  do  not  claim  infallibility.  We  recog- 
nize that  other  men  and  women,  equally  intelligent  and  honest, 
and  equally  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  this  city,  hold  opinions  dif- 
ferent from  those  which  your  Commission,  in  view  of  the  evidence 
available,  have  felt  compelled  to  form.  We  believe  it  will  help 
you  and  the  citizens  of  Minneapolis  to  estimate  our  results  at  their 
just  value,  if  we  indicate  how  they  have  been  reached.  Since  last 
September  the  Commission  have  met  every  fortnight,  or  more 
frequently,  while  their  special  committees  have  been  busy  in  the 
intervals. 


W'c  have  called  before  us  those  whom  we  supposed  knew 
most  about  present  conditions  and  their  practical  handling.  Your 
Honor  has  kindly  placed  the  machinery  of  the  Police  Department 
at  our  disposal.  The  Chief  of  Police,  the  Police  Matron  and 
other  officials,  have  most  willingly  given  us  such  information  as 
they  possessed.  We  have  taken  the  testimony  of  former  keepers 
of  the  prohibited  houses.  We  have  had  before  us  experts  from 
abroad.  We  have  conducted  a  voluminous  correspondence  with 
the  authorities  of  other  cities.  The  generosity  of  your  Honor 
has  made  it  possible  for  members  of  this  Commission  to  visit 
other  communities  and  personally  investigate  conditions  and 
methods.  About  350  letters  have  been  written  to  representative 
citizens  of  Minneapolis,  of  every  business  and  profession,  asking 
for  their  opinions  upon  administrative  methods  of  dealing  with 
Public  Prostitution,  and  for  such  information  as  they  had  upon 
the  present  situation  in  Minneapolis.  Any  definite  information  has 
been  at  once  followed  up.  We  believe  the  whole  question  has 
been  fairly  and  honestly  canvassed. 

The  members  of  your  Commission  are  very  busy  men  and 
women,  serving  without  compensation.  Many  other  duties  have 
had  to  be  set  aside ;  but  all  have  felt  that,  if  they  could  do  anything 
to  help  their  city  or  its  guardians,  at  this  critical  epoch,  they 
would  gladly  do  it.  Entertaining  no  chimerical  hopes  that  the 
Social  Evil  can  be  immediately  abolished  under  any  system  of 
treatment,  your  Commission  feel  that,  whatever  may  be  the  fate 
of  their  specific  recommendations,  the  time  has  come  to  shape  for 
our  city  a  policy  upon  the  subject  of  public  Social  Vice,  which 
shall  be  consistently  carried  beyond  the  stage  of  a  brief  experi- 
ment. It  would  be  gratifying  to  us,  if  such  a  policy  should 
signalize  the  administration  of  your  Honor,  for  whom  personally 
we  entertain  the  highest  regard,  whose  interest  in  all  that  makes 
for  the  best  life  of  our  citv  we  do  not  doubt. 


14 


The  Report. 

It  has  devolved  upon  the  chairman  of  your  Commission  to 
put  the  findings  of  the  various  sub-commitees  together  and  write 
this  Report.  He  wishes  to  recognize  the  faithful  and  thorough 
work  these  committees  have  done.  They  have  gathered  the  facts 
and  other  materials.  The  members  of  the  committee  upon  pres- 
ent conditions  under  your  Honor's  policy  of  law  enforcement, 
have  been  untiring  in  their  investigation.  The  Chairman  fre- 
quently uses,  without  quotation  marks,  the  language  in  which 
the  several  sub-committees  have  embodied  their  results  and  sug- 
gestions. And  it  is  but  just  to  emphasize  at  this  point  the  indis- 
pensable services  of  our  Secretary,  Mr.  Eugene  T.  Lies,  without 
which  what  has  been  accomplished  by  the  Commission  would  not 
have  been  possible. 

Marion  D.  Shutter,  Chairman. 

July  10,  1911. 


15 


I. 

State  La\vs  and  City  Ordinances 


I. 

State  Laws  and  City  Ordinances 

A  report  of  this  kind  may  well  start  in  with  an  abstract  of 
existing  laws,  both  State  and  Municipal,  upon  the  subject  of 
Public  Prostitution. 

The  Statutes  of  Minnesota  provide  that  keeping  a  house  of 
ill-fame  or  assignation,  or  knowingly  letting  premises  for  that 
purpose,  as  owner  or  agent,  or  permitting  premises  to  be  so  used, 
is  punishable  by  imprisonment  in  the  State  Prison  or  County 
Jail  for  not  more  than  seven  years  or  by  fine,  or  both.  Substan- 
tially the  same  offenses  are  covered  by  city  ordinances,  and  are 
punishable  by  fines  not  exceeding  $100,  or  imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  90  days.  This  is  the  legal  status  in  Minnesota  and 
Minneapolis. 

But  the  laws  are  still  more  explicit,  and  include  resorting  to 
or  being  found  in  a  house  of  ill-fame  or  assignation;  occupying 
an  apartment  in  a  house  of  ill-fame,  on  the  part  either  of  a  male  or 
female,  who  has  no  apparent  lawful  occupation,  is  punishable 
under  the  ordinances  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $50  nor  less  than 
$10,  or  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  90  days.  Inducing,  entic- 
ing, or  procuring  any  female  person  to  enter  a  house  of  prostitu- 
tion or  assignation,  are  crimes  punishable  by  imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  two  years  or  by  fine.  These,  in  brief,  are  the  laws  of 
Minnesota  and  the  ordinances  of  Minneapolis,  and  similar  laws 
prevail  throughout  the  United  States. 


19 


II. 

Historical  SKetcn — Minneapolis 


II. 

Historical  Sketcn 

Until  very  recently,  segregation  of  the  Social  Evil  has  been 
the  unchallenged  policy  of  Minneapolis  for  many  years.  As  far 
back  as  information  has  been  obtainable  from  the  senior  members 
of  the  police  force,  houses  of  ill-fame  were  tolerated  in  the  district 
which  has  in  recent  years  gone  under  the  general  name  of  "First 
Street."  There  were  formerly  a  few  scattered  resorts  in  the  lower 
streets  north  of  Hennepin  Ave.,  and  for  many  years  a  slowly  in- 
creasing number  on  Main  Street,  fronting  the  east  river  bank  on 
either  side  of  Central  Ave.  The  so-called  "Eleventh  Ave."  dis- 
trict, in  the  Sixth  Ward,  began  to  be  occupied  for  public  prostitu- 
tion at  least  fifteen  years  ago.  The  locally  accepted  theory  has 
been  that  houses  of  prostitution  are  necessary  evils,  and  they  have 
been  permitted  to  exist  in  the  localities  given  over  to  them,  with 
regulations  of  varying  strictness,  according  to  the  views  of  dif- 
ferent police  administrations.  There  have  always  been  a  few 
places,  and  sometimes  many,  outside  the  prescribed  limits,  more  or 
less  notorious,  but  conducted  with  such  privacy  as  to  avoid  serious 
scandal  and  generally  escape  successful  prosecution. 

The  Indirect  License. 

An  indirect  license  system  was  inaugurated  in  the  early  '80's, 
by  means  of  regular  monthly  fines,  the  keepers  coming  into  the 
Municipal  Court  on  the  order  of  the  police,  without  the  formality 
of  arrest,  at  a  special  session  held  on  a  certain  day  of  each  month, 
and  pleading  guilty  to  a  charge,  brought  under  the  city  ordinance, 
of  keeping  a  house  of  ill-fame.  At  first  a  uniform  fine  of  $50  was 
imposed  on  keepers,  with  costs ;  then  $60 ;  then  $65,  with  intermit- 
tent fines  for  inmates  at  the  rate  of  $5  or  $10  each.  In  1897  the 
fine  was  raised  to  $100  (the  maximum  that  can  be  imposed  by  the 
court)  for  the  proprietor ;  and  fining  of  the  inmates,  except  when 
prosecuted  for  special  cause,  was  discontinued.    During  the  last 

23 


Ames  administration,  in  1901,  the  police  department  undertook 
to  have  the  tine  reduced  to  $50.  On  the  court's  refusal  to  do  this, 
the  desired  end  was  accomplished  by  bringing  the  women  in  only 
once  in  two  months. 

In  1900,  when  the  $100  rate  was  in  vogue,  the  revenue  of  the 
city  from  this  source  was  $41,600.  The  average  in  1897-1900  was 
about  $37,000.  In  1901,  under  the  fifty  per  cent  reduction  of 
Mavor  Ames,  it  fell  to  $29,100.  This  represents  an  average  of 
about  48  houses  for  the  year.  As  the  bringing  of  the  women 
into  court  was  entirely  at  police  initiative,  it  is  easy  to  see  the 
temptation  to  be  less  than  thorough.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  con- 
servative estimate  of  the  whole  number  of  generally  recognized 
houses  of  prostitution  and  assignation,  including  those  operating 
under  the  guise  of  candy  stores,  placed  them  at  150. 

Medical  Inspection. 

For  about  five  months  during  this  administration  a  semi- 
official system  of  medical  inspection  was  pursued.  Two  physi- 
cians were  commissioned  by  the  Mayor  to  make  weekly  examina- 
tions of  the  inmates  of  houses  of  ill-fame,  receiving  each  a  fee  of 
$1  per  woman,  and  delivering  a  certificate  of  freedom  from  com- 
municable diseases,  which  was  kept  posted  in  the  private  apart- 
ment of  the  recipient.  Women  found  infected  with  venereal  dis- 
ease were  ordered  to  go  out  of  business  until  pronounced  safe. 
This  system  was  abandoned  even  before  the  collapse  of  the  ad- 
ministration, in  response  to  a  general  protest  on  the  part  of  the 
public.  The  prevailing  sentiment  in  the  city  held  that  "the  sys- 
tem of  official  medical  inspection  of  inmates  of  houses  of  ill- 
fame,  recently  inaugurated  by  order  of  the  Mayor  of  Minneapolis, 
was  immoral,  illegal,  a  dangerous  assumption  of  power  on  the  part 
of  the  city's  executive,  ineffective  for  the  object  for  which  it 
purports  to  be  designated,  conducive  of  official  corruption  and 
public  demoralization,  and,  if  persisted  in,  likely  to  bring  great 
harm  upon  our  city,  in  reputation  abroad  and  conditions  at  home, 

24 


without  any  public  benefit  whatsoever,"  and  demanded  that  the 
Mayor  rescind  his  obnoxious  order  forthwith.  And  the  order 
was  rescinded. 

Attempt  to  Stop  Illegal  Sale  of  Liquor. 

Immediately  upon  the  accession  of  the  Jones  ad-interim  ad- 
ministration, in  August,  1902,  the  fining  system  was  discontinued, 
and  it  has  never  been  re-established.  During  the  Ames  adminis- 
tration the  houses  had  spread  widely  outside  the  previous  limits 
of  toleration,  chiefly  on  South  Washington  and  lower  Hennepin, 
Nicollet  and  Western  Avenues.  The  Jones  administration  made 
a  vigorous  and  fairly  successful  attempt  to  drive  them  back  into 
the  prescribed  territory,  but  did  not  try  to  do  more  than  regulate 
them  there.  The  one  reform  undertaken,  beyond  a  stricter  super- 
vision in  respect  to  publicity,  was  an  attempt  to  prevent  the  sale 
of  intoxicants  in  the  resorts.  Something  was  accomplished  and 
the  effort  was  thought  to  be  worth  while ;  but  the  experiment  was 
too  brief  to  be  either  an  exemplary  success  or  an  instructive  fail- 
ure. 

Fining  System  Abolished. 

The  fining  system  was  abolished  because  it  was  believed  to  be 
unjustifiable  as  a  revenue  measure,  ineffective  as  a  method  of 
regulation  and  generally  demoralizing  in  its  inevitable  tendencies. 
It  was  predicted  in  some  quarters  that  an  increase  in  the  number 
of  resorts  would  follow.  This  did  not  occur  during  the  four  or 
five  remaining  months  of  1902,  but  after  the  accession  of  the 
next  administration  there  was  doubtless  some  increase.  To  what 
extent  this  was  due  to  the  discontinuance  of  periodical  fines,  and 
to  what  extent  to  other  considerations, — such  as  the  growth  of  the 
city  or  expectation  of  a  change  in  police  policy, — it  is  impossible 
to  determine. 


2S 


Number  of  Segregated  Areas  Reduced. 

During  Mayor  llaynes'  first  aclininistration,  1903-4,  the  re- 
sorts, then  numbering,  in  that  locahty,  about  6,  were  driven  off 
Main  Street,  at  the  solicitation  of  residents  of  the  East  Side. 
Early  in  1908,  on  the  demand  of  business  interests  adjacent  to 
the  First  Street  district,  the  more  openly  conducted  places  in  that 
neighborhood,  then  numbering  32,  were  either  closed  or  com- 
pelled to  operate  under  cover,  and  such  as  have  remained  have 
been  more  or  less  clandestine,  under  the  guise  of  rooming  houses 
or  candy  stores. 

When  this  latter  bit  of  municipal  house-cleaning  was  begun, 
it  was  rumored  that  the  resorts  in  the  First  Street  district  would 
all  remove  to  Eleventh  Avenue  South,  and  vicinity, — as  some  of 
them  did  in  fact.  A  movement  was  at  once  begun  among  the  resi- 
dents of  the  Sixth  Ward  not  only  to  prevent  this  but  to  wipe  out 
the  Eleventh  Avenue  district  altogether  and  this  was  continued 
with  intermittent  activity  until  both  purposes  were  finally  accom- 
plished, in  April,  1910.  At  that  time  there  were  23  recognized 
resorts  in  that  district.  It  is  noteworthy  that  this  movement  was 
rather  in  the  nature  of  an  abatement  of  a  local  nuisance  than  a 
crusade  against  vice  on  universal  moral  grounds.  The  residents 
of  the  Sixth  Ward  insisted  upon  the  right  to  clean  up  their  own 
back  yard.  They  had  found  the  presence  of  those  resorts  a  detri- 
ment to  business  and  a  standing  menace  to  the  morals  of  the 
community.  It  was  difficult  for  the  most  respectable  women  to 
appear  even  in  the  street-cars  near  this  district  at  night,  without 
being  subjected  to  insult  by  rowdies  and  men  half  intoxicated.  In 
the  district  itself,  one  of  the  most  notorious  houses  was  adjacent 
to  a  large  block  or  apartment  building  in  which  about  150  fam- 
ilies, in  very  moderate  circumstances,  dwelt.  Within  half  a  block 
of  one  of  these  resorts  was  the  only  vacant  lot  in  the  neighbor- 
hood upon  which  children  could  play;  and  frequently  from  75 
to  100  children  would  be  playing  upon  that  lot. 

26 


These  were  some  of  the  circumstances  which  roused  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Sixth  Ward  to  action.  A  meeting  at  which  1,200  were 
present,  90  per  cent  of  them  men,  was  held  at  Riverside  Chapel 
to  demand  the  closing  of  the  "Red  Light"  district.  No  one  under 
21  years  of  age  was  admitted.  The  meeting  was  a  unit  in  its  de- 
mand ;  there  was  not  a  dissenting  voice.  As  a  result  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  citizens  of  the  Sixth  Ward,  about  the  middle  of  No- 
vember, 1910,  the  police  began  a  vigorous  attack  upon  public 
prostitution  wherever  found,  which  still  continues.  The  history 
of  this  radical  and  unprecedented  policy  is  still  in  the  making. 
The  present  Vice  Commission  have  made  a  searching  investiga- 
tion of  present  conditions,  the  results  of  which  will  be  found  later 
in  this  Report. 


27 


III. 

Xne  Question  of  Legalizing 
Prostitution 


III. 

Xne  Question  of  Legalizing  Prostitution 

The  foregoing  section  of  this  Report  gives  an  account  of  the 
methods  of  deaUng  with  this  subject  by  former  administrations, 
and  of  the  method  which  is  being  employed  today.  After  your 
Commission  had  investigated  existing  conditions,  and  were  almost 
prepared  to  make  their  Recommendations,  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  sentiment  of  the  Community,  and  to  obtain  information  which 
might  have  been  overlooked,  the  following  letter  was  sent  out  to 
representative  citizens : 

"The  Vice  Commission,  appointed  by  the  Mayor  of  Minneapolis,  have 
been  at  work  for  some  months  studying  the  Social  Evil  in  our  City,  with  a 
view  to  making  recommendations  for  its  treatment  by  the  city  administra- 
tion. 

"We  are  nearing  the  end  of  our  labors,  and  as  we  wish  our  recommen- 
dations, when  made,  to  have  the  backing  of  an  intelligent  public  opinion, 
we  pause  for  further  suggestions  before  committing  our  conclusions  to 
permanent  form. 

1.  Enforcing  the  laws  and  ordinances  against  it. 

2.  Tolerating  it  as  an  inevitable  violation  of  law,  to  be  handled  by 
the  police.    Or, 

3.  Repealing  the  laws  against  it,  and  putting  it  upon  a  legal  basis, 
licensing  and  regulating  it,  to  the  end  that  it  may  be  segregated  and  kept 
under  medical  supervision. 

"Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  write  the  Vice  Commission  at  once  and 
state  your  preference  for  one  or  another  of  these  methods,  and  also  your 
reasons  for  the  preference?  Also,  if  you  believe  in  any  form  of  segrega- 
tion, what  section  of  our  city  would  you  suggest  for  such  segregation? 
And  should  the  city  or  private  individuals  own  the  property  devoted  to 
Public  Prostitution?" 

The  responses  were  prompt  and  from  a  large  number  of 
those  addressed.  Some  of  these  favored  the  third  proposition. 
That  proposition,  your  Commission  will  consider  first. 


31 


A  Restatement. 

To  restate  this  mctliod :  it  is  to  repeal  existing  laws  and  ordi- 
nances, legalize  the  business,  issue  licenses  to  those  who  desire 
to  keep  or  to  become  inmates  of  houses  of  prostitution,  regulate 
it,  as  any  other  business  which  needs  to  have  restrictions  thrown 
around  it,  and  introduce  medical  as  well  as  police  supervision. 
To  carry  out  this  plan  logically,  it  would  not  be  out  of  keeping 
for  the  city  to  own  the  property,  the  real  estate  and  buildings, 
and  even  furnishings,  devoted  to  this  purpose.  It  is  true,  that 
segregation  and  medical  inspection,  particularly  the  latter,  exist 
in  spite  of  present  laws,  but  they  could  only  be  made  permanent 
and  consistent  parts  of  a  system,  under  legal  sanctions.  Other- 
wise they  are  simply  forms  of  toleration. 

Some  of  our  correspondents  favor  this  method,  from  begin- 
ning to  end. 

"It  is  my  opinion  that  the  law  ought  to  be  repealed  and  this  matter 
put  upon  legal  basis  with  licensing  and  restrictions  to  regulate  it.  In 
other  words,  I  believe  in  entire  segregation,  and  that  the  business  be  kept 
under  medical  supervision ;  and  I  think  the  location  of  Second  Street  and 
Eleventh  Avenue  would  be  as  good  as  any." 

"I  am  in  favor  of  your  third  method,  especially  so  because  medical 
supervision  is  absolutely  necessary.  Medical  supervision  may  not  stop 
the  spread  of  disease,  but  it  will  be  a  great  help  and  will  do  much  toward 
that  end." 

"It  would  not  become  me  to  suggest  placing  this  body  of  careless 
livers  in  any  particular  section  of  Minneapolis,  as  there  would  be  an  argu- 
ment against  each  and  every  section,  of  course,  but  I  do  favor  treating  this 
matter  as  it  was  treated  in  Tokio,  is  treated  in  Algiers  and  the  far  east, 
generally,  having  city  supervision,  doctors'  supervision  and  police  protec- 
tion." 

"Regarding  the  other  inquiries  you  make,  my  investigations  have  led 
me  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  best  to  put  it  upon  a  legal  basis,  on  the  same 
principle  as  saloons,  and  segregate.  I  would  have  the  city  own  the  prop- 
erty, in  the  same  way  that  it  should  own  a  piece  of  property  colonized  by 
lepers.  In  reply  to  your  further  question :  What  part  of  the  City  should  be 
utilized  for  such  segregation?  I  would  say  almost  any  portion  absolutely 
removed  from  the  residential  district.  It  is  a  pest  house  proposition,  and 
should  be  treated  as  such." 

"Repeal  Laws  against  social  evil,  license  and  regulate  and  keep  under 
medical  supervision.    Locate  on  Nicollet  Island  under  City  ownership." 

32 


Such  are  the  sentiments  expressed  by  some  of  our  corre- 
spondents, men  vv'hose  opinions  on  any  subject  are  entitled  to  re- 
spect and  consideration. 

Remarks. 

Upon  this  aspect  of  the  subject,  your  Commission  desire  to 
say: 

(1)  If  we  are  to  have  prostitution  officially  recognized,  in 
any  way,  it  seems  to  us  that  this  method  is  preferable  to  the  toler- 
ation of  it  in  face  of  and  against  the  laws  of  the  state  and  the 
ordinances  of  the  city.  Theoretically,  the  plan  is  logical  and  con- 
sistent, culminating  naturally  in  city  ownership ;  and  we  can  un- 
derstand the  appeal  tliat  it  makes  to  thoughtful  people  who  de- 
spair of  any  other  method. 

(2)  Theoretically  logical  and  consistent,  it  however  ap- 
pears to  your  Commission  as  practically  impossible.  There  are 
obstacles  that  can  not  be  removed,  unless  at  the  end  of  an  al- 
most interminable  process  of  education,  and  education  along 
other  lines  than  those  which  now  prevail.  Besides,  your  Com- 
mission are  expected  to  report  something  immediately  practicable. 
Legalizing  and  licensing  prostitution  is  a  method  foreign  to  the 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  the  American  people  and  repugnant 
to  their  moral  sense.  It  would  be  out  of  the  question  to  elect  a 
state  legislature  which  v/ould  repeal  the  present  laws  and  substi- 
tute others ;  or  a  city  council  which  would  follow  this  up  with 
appropriate  ordinances.  The  people  would  tolerate  neither  them 
nor  their  legislation.  Some  of  our  correspondents  who  believe  in 
this  system  recognize  the  impossibility  of  putting  it  into  effect. 

To  quote  the  words  of  one  of  them : 

"I  recognize,  however,  the  present  impossibility  of  such  course.  The 
inconsistency  of  botli  pubhc  and  private  moral  standards  upon  this  sub- 
ject is  too  great  for  men  to  legislate  upon  the  subject  courageously,  fear- 
lessly and  righteously.  This  state  is  not  peculiar  to  the  present  time. 
Montesquieu   and  other  close   analysts  of   social  and  political  conditions 

33 


recognize  the  limit  of  power  in  state  or  society  as  respects  this  evil  to  be 
merely  regulative. 

"It  is  my  belief  tliat  an  elVuicnt,  if  iml  oriieial  registration  of  all  in- 
mates of  houses  within  the  n-sirieled  area  can  be  taken  and  kept  up  by 
the  jiolice  and  a  syslom  of  medical  inspection  therein  can  be  quietly,  but 
etriciently.  secured  through  co-operation  of  the  police  and  keepers  of 
houses." 

Tlie  whole  question  of  lej^alization  is  summed  up  by  Prof. 
Charles  R.  Henderson,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  whose  re- 
searches were  carried  on  under  the  auspices  of  the  "Russell  Sage 
Foundation." 

"It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that  so  long  as  public  opinion 
remains  what  it  is,  the  business  of  prostitution  can  never  be  made  in  any 
sense  legal ;  it  cannot  be  openly  recognized  as  legitimate ;  it  cannot  bo 
licensed;  it  cannot  in  any  way  secure  legal  standing  before  the  courts;  the 
wages  of  the  harlot  cannot  be  collected  by  suit  at  law;  the  landlord  who 
rents  a  house  for  such  purposes  is  liable  to  prosecution.  Any  attempt  to 
introduce  such  laws  as  those  wdiich  are  in  force  in  some  countries  of 
Continental  Europe  would  ruin  the  social  and  political  career  of  any  legis- 
lature." 

This  is  the  general  American  position.     It  may  be  worth 

while  to  illustrate  it  by  the  only  instance  in  our  history,  so  far 

as  known,  where  an  attempt,  successful,   for  a  little  while,  to 

legalize  the  traffic,  has  been  made. 

In  1870,  the  license  system  was  inaugurated  in  St.  Louis. 
The  authority  for  it  was  obtained  by  a  legislative  trick, — the 
interpolation,  without  debate,  of  the  two  words  "or  regulate" 
into  an  amendment  of  the  city  charter,  intended,  as  was  gener- 
ally supposed,  to  suppress  prostitution.  The  legal  effect  of  this 
amendment,  as  was  subsequently  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State  of  Missouri,  was  to  repeal  all  state  laws  prohibiting 
prostitution,  so  far  as  St.  Louis  was  concerned,  and  to  give  to 
it  a  business  status  as  a  legitimate  industry.  When  it  was  dis- 
covered what  had  been  accomplished  by  legislative  legerdemain, 
a  vigorous  agitation  for  repeal  began.  A  petition  for  repeal 
signed  by  4,000  women  was  sent  to  the  legislature.  The  Catholic 
Archbishop  and  clergy,  most  of  the  Protestant  clergy,  lawyers 
and  physicians  to  the  number  of   150,  united  in  a  tremendous 

34 


protest  against  what  was  regarded  as  a  political  outrage.  After  a 
contest  of  extreme  bitterness,  the  Missouri  legislature  of  1873-4 
repealed  the  act  by  a  three-fourths  vote  of  the  Senate  and  a  vote 
of  90  to  1  in  the  House.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  try  to  repeat 
that  unfortunate  but  instructive  bit  of  history. 

The  Continental  System. 

In  the  course  of  your  Commission's  correspondence  with 
citizens,  we  have  been  referred  very  frequently  to  the  European 
system  of  handling  prostitution.  Many  who  have  written  to  us 
have  suggested  that  we  might  wisely  imitate.  We  have,  there- 
fore, thought  it  worth  while  to  insert  a  word  upon  that  phase 
of  the  subject. 

Most  people  think  that  segregation  is  the  prevailing  method 
in  Europe.  Such  is  certainly  not  the  case.  There  is  no  large 
European  city,  with  the  exception  of  Hamburg,  where  segrega- 
tion prevails.  It  is  not  the  rule  in  Paris  or  Berlin  or  Brussels 
or  any  of  the  other  cities  that  are  often  cited  as  instances  of 
successful  dealing  with  the  Social  Evil.  Licenses  are  issued  by 
the  city  to  individual  houses  or  inmates;  but  these  houses  are 
not  confined  to  any  particular  section  or  sections  of  the  city. 
They  may  be  located  anywhere.  They  are  legalised,  but  not  seg- 
regated. 

Doubtless  it  is  true  that  by  the  inevitable  tendencies  of  the 
business  to  seek  certain  sorts  of  environment,  brothels  may  often 
be  found  in  larger  and  smaller  groups.  That,  however,  is  a 
natural  process,  quite  distinct  from  the  artificial  concentration  of 
vice  that  people  mean  when  they  talk  about  segregation.  Under 
any  policy  which  failed  to  absolutely  eliminate  prostitution,  it 
would  seek,  in  either  tolerated  or  clandestine  forms,  certain  parts 
of  the  city  rather  than  certain  other  parts.  This  is  true  in  Min- 
neapolis at  the  present  time.  The  only  thing  which  segregation 
and  reglementation  necessarily  have  in  common  is  that  each 
method  tolerates  the  brothel.     Under   reglementation  it  is  the 

35 


individual  brothel,  with  licensed  and  medically  inspected  in- 
mates; under  segreg^ation  as  we  have  it  in  America  the  brothels 
are  s^roupctl,  but  without  license  and  generally  without  medical 
inspection.  When  once  it  is  admitted  that  licensing  and  official 
medical  inspection  are  impracticable  in  Minnesota  the  parallel 
between  local  conditions  under  segregation  and  conditions  abroad 
imder  reglementation  fails  completely.  And  even  if  results 
abroad  were  more  successful  they  would  not  be  useful  to  us  in 
determining  the  appropriate  policy  here. 

Break-Down  of  the  Continental  System. 

But  this  system  has  actually  broken  down  in  Europe.  Look- 
ing at  the  theory  without  a  knowledge  of  the  facts,  one  would  be 
inclined  to  think  it  might  work  and  work  effectively;  but  it 
does  not.  Most  of  the  nations  of  Europe  are  now  at  a  stand- 
still. Licensing,  regulation,  medical  inspection,  seem  to  work  no 
better  than  the  attempts  at  suppression  which,  in  some  instances, 
went  before.  One  writer  upon  the  subject  exclaims,  in  his  de- 
spair, "suppression  of  prostitutes  is  impossible  and  control  is  im- 
practicable." 

Havelock  Ellis,  in  "Psychology  of  Sex,"  Vol.  VI,  says: 

"At  the  present  time,  however,  it  is  those  best  acquainted  with  the 
operation  of  the  system  of  control  who  have  most  clearly  realized  that 
the  supposed  palliation  is  for  the  most  part  illusory,  and  in  any  case  at- 
tained at  the  artificial  production  of  other  evils.  In  France,  where  the 
system  of  the  registration  and  control  of  prostitutes  has  been  established 
for  over  a  century,  and  where  consequently  its  advantages,  if  such  there 
are,  should  be  clearly  realized,  it  meets  with  almost  impassioned  opposi- 
tion from  able  men  belonging  to  every  section  of  the  community.  In 
Germany  the  opposition  to  regularized  control  has  long  been  led  by  well 
equipped  experts,  headed  by  Blaschko,  of  Berlin." 

Throughout  Europe,  w^herever  the  system  of  licensing  pre- 
vails, the  unregistered  prostitutes  outnumber  the  registered  ones 
ten  to  one.  Your  Commission  cannot  recommend  the  importa- 
tion of  a  system  discredited  upon  the  ground  where  it  arose. 


36 


IV. 

Toleration  or  Prostitution 


'i'?'9520 


IV. 

Toleration  of  Prostitution 

Legalization  of  prostitution  being  impossible  in  Minnesota, 
or  anywhere  else  in  the  United  States,  we  turn  to  another  meth- 
od. Many  people  despairing  of  being  able  to  do  much  in  the  way 
of  enforcing  the  laws  against  it,  are  convinced  that  it  can  not 
be  suppressed;  and  while  they  shrink  from  legalizing  what  is 
immoral  and  vicious,  they  feel  that  the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  put 
it  out  of  sight  and  insist  that  the  police  shall  control  it  as  best 
they  may.  Thus  segregation  means  the  toleration  of  prohibited 
vice  in  a  certain  district,  with  the  attempt,  more  or  less  vigorous 
and  vigilant,  to  enforce  the  prohibition  elsewhere.  It  involves 
the  existence  and  perpetuation  of  the  brothel,  harboring  a  group  of 
women  who  associate  themselves  together  for  prostitution;  and 
in  a  large  city  it  creates  a  community  of  such  places,  a  district 
devoted  to  the  practice  and  promotion  of  commercialized  vice. 

The  correspondence  of  your  Commission  with  representative 
citizens  shows  that  there  is  a  strong  and  well-defined  sentiment 
in  favor  of  this  plan.  An  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  one 
of  our  most  distinguished  lawyers  and  publicists  may  be  taken 
as  an  example: 

"It  is  my  impression,  however,  that  the  second  method  suggested  is 
the  only  one  practical  under  existing  social  conditions.  In  venturing  this 
opinion  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  abuses  that  that  method  may  lead  to, 
but  assuming  that  the  City  administration  is  fairly  efficient  and  decent, 
it  would,  in  my  judgment,  result  in  less  offense  and  less  mischief  than 
either  of  the  other  plans." 

A  well-known  manufacturer  writes: 

"Method  No.  2  seems  to  me  to  be  the  only  way  of  solving  this  prob- 
lem, and  could  be  still  more  improved  upon,  if  it  could  be  under  Medical 
Supervision." 

A  prominent  business  man  thus  expresses  himself : 

"Recognizing  the  impossibility  in  a  city  of  over  three-hundred  thou- 
sand people  of  preventing  secret  prostitution,  it  then  becomes  a  question 

39 


of  wlicthoi  or  not  it  is  belter  to  recognize  it,  and  segregate  it,  rather  than 
to  have  it  scattered  all  through  jour  city,  as  is  the  case  today  in  Minne- 
apolis. I  am  of  the  oiiinion,  therefore,  solely  on  the  ground  of  preventing 
the  scattering  of  prostitutes  throughout  the  residence  districts  of  the  city, 
that  it  would  be  advisable  to  have  it  segregated." 

We  add  one  more : 

"Personally,  I  have  always  believed  that  the  proper  way  to  handle  the 
Social  Evil  is  by  segregation  and  medical  supervision,  under  a  proper  code 
of  laws.  I  am  not  familiar,  however,  with  the  result  in  cities  where  this 
has  been  tried. 

"My  reasons  for  this  preference  are  that,  properly  enforced,  public 
prostitution  could  be  confined  to  a  certain  district,  and  not  be  scattered  all 
over  the  town,  as  it  is  at  present.  Were  the  evils  and  disease  incurred  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  medical  inspection  confined  to  the  guilty  parties, 
I  would  not  favor  it;  but  future  generations,  innocent  of  wrong-doing,  are 
the  heaviest  sufferers." 

These  expressions  are  fairly  representative  of  the  opinions 
held  by  a  large  body  of  people  whose  civic  patriotism  is  unques- 
tioned.   They  deserve  the  most  serious  attention. 

The  Argument. 

Other  correspondents  have  brought  out  other  points,  in  this 
connection,  and  your  Commission  wish  to  make  a  just  and  com- 
plete statement  of  the  case,  as  it  appeals  to  a  large  number  of 
our  citizens. 

The  substantial  sentiment  that  undoubtedly  exists  in  Min- 
neapolis in  favor  of  segregation  is  supported  in  the  minds  of  in- 
telligent and  public-spirited  men  by  the  following  considerations : 

(1)  The  existence  in  a  city  of  a  considerable  number  of 
women  who  are  desirous  of  engaging  in  the  business  of  prostitu- 
tion, and  of  a  larger  number  of  men  who  wish  to  patronize  them, 
is  a  universal  and  inevitable  fact. 

(2)  Since  this  is  so,  and  since  experience  shows  that  the 
vicious  commerce  between  such  men  and  such  women  cannot  be 
suppressed,  it  is  wiser  to  centralize  the  business  so  that  it  may 
be  the  more  readily  controlled  by  the  police,  in  the  interest  of 
public  order. 

40 


(3)  The  same  conditions  that  render  police  regulation 
more'  convenient  make  possible  a  system  of  public  medical  in- 
spection and  sanitary  control,  which  could  not  otherwise  be  en- 
forced. 

(4)  Centralization  brings  groups  of  prostitutes  under  the 
management  of  keepers  of  the  respective  houses,  whose  interest 
is  to  prevent  their  establishments  from  becoming  known  as  dis- 
tributing points  for  disease.  Self  interest  is  thus  enlisted  in  the 
promotion  of  sanitary  conditions. 

(5)  The  conveniences  for  the  gratification  of  lust  offered 
by  a  definite  and  easily  accessible  quarter  devoted  to  prostitution 
are  safeguards  for  protection  of  innocent  females  who  would 
otherwise  be  the  victims  of  insult  or  assault. 

(6)  Under  existing  social  conditions  many  girls  and  wom- 
en become  prostitutes  rather  through  misfortune  than  through 
deliberate  choice.  Segregation  provides  a  place  where  they  may 
live  without  molestation  so  long  as  they  observe  other  laws  than 
those  against  the  vice  under  which  they  gain  their  livelihood. 
Under  a  policy  of  suppression  they  are  hunted  from  place  to 
place,  and  a  wretched  mode  of  life  from  which  escape  is  at  the 
best  extremely  difficult  is  thus  beset  with  increased  hardships. 

(7)  Where  vice  is  not  segregated  it  tends  to  scatter.  Re- 
spectable business  and  residence  districts  thus  become  infested 
with  prostitutes  who  ply  their  trade  with  more  or  less  secrecy. 
Their  presence  there  is  likely  to  contaminate  young  persons  of 
both  sexes  who  would  not  otherwise  come  into  contact  with  them 
and  constitute  a  neighborhood  nuisance. 

(8)  The  clandestine  prostitute  is  more  dangerous  from  a 
sanitary  standpoint  than  the  inmate  of  the  brothel,  being  wholly 
without  supervision  in  respect  to  either  the  contraction  or  spread 
of  contagion,  and  being  more  likely  to  incur  risk  of  infection 
according  as  she  is  driven  by  necessity  to  greater  recklessness 
in  sexual  commerce. 

41 


The  foregoing  statement,  your  Commission  believes,  is  a  fair 
ami  practically  complete  summary  of  the  argument  for  tolera- 
tion and  segregation, — even  in  violation  of  existing  laws,  on  the 
principle  tliat  it  is  the  lesser  of  two  evils.  Without  committing 
ourselves,  at  this  point,  your  Commission  invite  the  people  of 
Minneapolis,  as  well  as  your  Honor,  to  an  earnest  study  of  the 
facts  which  follow, — facts  which  your  Commission  have  ob- 
tained with  the  greatest  diligence,  and  analyzed  with  the  utmost 
care. 


42 


V. 

Prostitution  and  Medical  Inspection 


V. 

Prostitution  and  Medical  Inspection 

There  is  a  wide-spread  belief  that  if  PubHc  Prostitution 
were  segregated  and  public  prostitutes  periodically  examined  by 
physicians,  both  the  spread  of  prostitution  to  other  quarters  of 
our  cities,  and  the  spread  of  those  venereal  diseases  which  in- 
variably accompany  prostitution,  would  be  arrested.  This  belief, 
as  our  correspondence  reveals,  obtains  extensively  in  the  city  of 
Minneapolis.  The  members  of  your  Honor's  Commission,  espe- 
cially the  sub-committee  upon  "Medical  and  Hygienic  Aspects  of 
Prostitution,"  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  most  careful  in- 
vestigation of  this  phase  of  the  subject.  Their  conclusions  are 
embodied  in  this  section  of  your  Commission's  Report. 

We  are  today  making  war  upon  disease  in  all  its  forms  and 
phases.  We  do  not  despair  of  the  final  conquest  of  those  mala- 
dies which  have  been  for  centuries  deemed  incurable.  There 
are  no  diseases  more  terrible  in  their  effects  upon  the  victim  or 
more  far-reaching  in  their  consequences  to  others  than  those  we 
call  "venereal."  Society  is  vitally  interested  in  the  war  upon  these 
dread  forms  of  contagion  which  involve  alike  the  innocent  and 
the  guilty.  The  prevalence  of  syphilis  is  estimated  at  from  five 
to  eighteen  per  cent  of  population,  some  countries  having  a  worse 
record  than  others.  Medical  writers  assert  that  from  ten  to  fif- 
teen per  cent  of  the  male  population  of  Europe  have  syphilis. 
Gonorrhoea  is  much  more  widely  diffused. 
The  original  source  of  these  diseases  is  Prostitution. 

"Prostitution  must  be  regarded  as  the  fountain  head  from  which  ven- 
ereal diseases  originate.  It  forms  the  main  source  from,  through,  and  by 
which,  courses  in  an  unbroken,  vitiated  stream,  the  poison  which  inoculates 
the  living  and  contaminates  the  yet  unborn.  In  comparison  to  this,  all 
other  modes  of  propagation  are  nil.  In  order  to  stamp  out  venereal  dis- 
eases absolutely,  prostitution  must  be  annihilated  first.  No  prostitution, 
no  venereal  disease.  To  prevent  these  diseases  measures  must  be  insti- 
tuted against  Prostitution.  Any  prophylaxis  instituted  against  their  spread, 
must  necessarily  begin  with  measures  directed  towards  either  the  suppres- 

45 


sion  or   repression   of   prostitution.      {Dr.   Ludwig   Weiss,  of  Nezv   York, 
Journal  American  Medical  Association,  Jan.  24,  igoj.)" 

"Every  prostitute,  pnblic  or  private,  .icquires  venereal  diseases  sooner 
or  later,  hence  all  of  them  are  diseased  some  of  the  time,  and  some  of  them 
all  of  the  time.  The  man  who  patronizes  them  risks  his  health  at  every 
exposure.  (Dr.  IViltiani  T.  Bclficld,  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago.)" 

Dr.  Frederick  Bierhoff,  of  New  York,  recently  said :  "It 
may  be  assumed  that  prostitution  is  the  most  common  source  of 
infection."  He  then  gives  statistics  from  his  own  private  prac- 
tice and  from  his  observation  in  three  New  York  hospitals.  In 
his  own  practice,  out  of  1,429  cases  of  gonorrhoea,  74  per  cent 
were  infected  by  prostitutes;  in  three  hospitals  mentioned  from 
71  to  86  per  cent. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  multiply  statistics  or  opinions.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  the  whole  discussion  concerning  Medical  In- 
spection shows  that  prostitution  is  the  chief  source  of  venereal 
diseases.  The  problem  of  these  diseases  will  be  permanently 
solved  in  proportion  as  prostitution  is  eliminated  and  the  public, 
especially  the  coming  generation,  educated. 

Medical  Inspection  and  Public  Health. 

Prostitution,  therefore,  is  primarily  responsible  for  these 
foul  diseases  and  their  terrible  results,  results  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  detail  in  such  a  Report.  The  question  that  is  perti- 
nent here  is  the  question  as  to  zvhat  measures,  in  the  treatment 
of  Prostitution,  zvill  be  the  most  conducive  to  the  Public  Health? 
What  can  your  Commission  recommend  as  to  Medical  Supervi- 
sion of  houses  of  ill-fame  and  Medical  Examination  of  prosti- 
tutes? One  of  the  leading  arguments  in  favor  of  segregation, 
as  already  noted,  is  that  it  will  then  be  possible  to  establish 
Medical  Inspection,  and  that  thus  the  transmission  of  venereal 
diseases  will  be  largely  checked.  Your  Commission  have  felt 
bound  to  make  a  searching  inquiry  into  the  grounds  upon  which 
this  argument  is  based :  and  they  find  the  medical  profession  al- 
most a  unit  against  the  value  or  efficacy  of  such  inspection. 

46 


Testimony  From  Abroad. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  Europe  has  the  oldest  and  best 
systems  of  regulation  of  Prostitution,  and  that  the  clearest  ex- 
amples are  found  in  Paris  and  Berlin.  If  we  compare  the  sys- 
tems of  regulation  in  these  two  cities,  we  find  that  they  do  not 
essentially  differ.  In  both  of  them  prostitutes  are  treated  as  a 
special  class,  bearing  a  relation  to  common  law  different  from 
that  of  other  members  of  society.  The  sanitary  systems  do  not 
differ  essentially.  It  is  true  that  all  examinations  in  Berlin  are 
held  in  public  offices  designated  for  that  purpose,  while  in  Paris 
those  who  live  in  licensed  houses  are  examined  at  their  domiciles. 
This  difference  is  of  small  significance  since  the  proportion  of 
brothel  inmates  is  so  insignificant.  In  Berlin  examinations  are 
held  weekly,  in  Paris  every  two  weeks.  Examinations  and  treat- 
ment are  gratuitous  in  both  cities. 

After  100  years  of  experience,  and  with  practically  unlimited 
power  to  deal  with  Prostitution  as  it  may,  the  most  perfect  of 
police  administrations,  that  of  Paris,  is  manifestly  unable  to  cope 
with  it ;  in  the  second  place,  it  is  generally  admitted  that  the  treat- 
ment is  not  sufficiently  prolonged  to  cure  the  maladies  discov- 
ered ;  that  as  a  rule  in  the  case  of  syphilis  the  prostitute  is  dis- 
missed from  the  hospital  while  quite  capable  of  transmitting  the 
disease.  The  external  appearance  of  the  disease  is  made  to 
vanish  while  the  disease  remains.  As  a  French  writer  has  put  it, 
"the  prostitutes  are  whitewashed,  not  cured."  This  is  quite  largely 
true  of  gonorrhoea  also.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  so  long  as  the 
diseased  patrons  of  prostitution  are  permitted  to  transmit  their 
maladies  without  restraint,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  permanent 
improvement  is  to  result. 


47 


Opinions  of  Experts. 

Prof.  Van  Ijsselstein,  of  Geneva,  who  has  carefully  studied 
"reglementation"  at  Brussels,  Paris,  and  the  Hague,  and  who 
was  formerly  an  ardent  advocate  of  sanitary  control,  says  in  an 
article  translated  for  an  American  periodical : 

"If  all  these  points  are  taken  into  consideration,  namely,  the  unavoid- 
able inadequacy  of  examinations  even  if  repeated  every  day,  the  difficulty 
of  procuring  officials  competent  to  conduct  them,  and  the  great  expense 
involved  in  doing  so,  we  are  justified  in  condemning  a  system  which  pre- 
sents so  many  objections,  against  such  extremely  problematical  advantages." 
(Journal  Am.  Med.  Ass'n.,  Feb.  lo,  igo6,  p.  398.) 

This  authority,  in  the  same  article,  questions  (giving  rea- 
sons), the  current  opinion  that  clandestine  Prostitution  is,  from 
a  sanitary  standpoint,  more  dangerous  than  Prostitution  in  broth- 
els. 

Dr.  M.  L.  Heidingfield,  Dermatological  Specialist,  Cincin- 
nati, discusses  the  attempt  to  control  Prostitution  by  periodic  ex- 
aminations under  supervision  of  a  Board  of  Health,  as  practiced 
in  Cincinnati,  and  pronounces  it  not  only  a  failure,  but  perni- 
cious : 

"So  evident  are  the  shortcomings  of  most  of  the  control  measures,  that 
some  of  the  leading  authorities  on  venereal  diseases,  both  at  home  and 
abroad — I  need  only  mention  Neisser,  of  Breslau  (the  discoverer  of  the 
germ  of  gonorrhoea),  and  Blaschko,  of  Berlin  (who  has  pursued,  with 
keen  interest,  under  favored  conditions,  the  work  accomplished  in  this 
direction), — are  exerting  their  powerful  influence  to  oppose  these  measures, 
because  from  a  disinterested  and  unselfish  standpoint,  regarding  them  as 
harmful,  pernicious,  and  ineflficient.  Valentine,  of  New  York,  states  that 
'the  staunchest  advocates  of  registration  and  periodic  examinations  of  pros- 
titutes must  admit  that  the  dissemination  of  venereal  diseases  is  thereby 
but  feebly  combatted.'  {Journal  Am.  Med.  Ass'n.,  Jan.  30,  1904,  P-  305  et 
seg.)" 

Dr.  Prince  A.  Morrow,  of  New  York,  Emeritus  Professor 
of  Genito-Urinary  Diseases  in  the  University  and  Bellevue  Medi- 
cal Colleges,  Surgeon  to  the  City  Hospital,  and  President  of  the 
American  Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis,  than  whom 
there  is  no  better  authority  upon  this  subject,  in  a  discussion  of 

48 


the   Page   Bill,   requiring   sanitary    supervision   of   Prostitution, 
says : 

"Now  the  law,  in  requiring  a  prompt  report  from  the  examining  phy- 
sician as  to  whether  or  not  a  prostitute  is  diseased  demands  what  medical 
science  and  skill  are  utterly  unable  to  furnish.  While  it  may  be  compara- 
tively easy  to  recognize  the  presence  of  acute  gonorrhoea,  these  women,  for 
obvious  reasons,  seldom  practice  their  vocation  with  the  disease  in  this 
stage;  the  vast  majority  of  infections  originate  from  chronic  or  latent 
gonorrhoea.  When  the  disease  is  localized,  in  the  deeper  organs,  the 
clinical  evidence  and  bacteriological  proof  of  its  existence  are  exceedingly 
difficult  or  impossible  to  establish,  and  yet  the  disease  may  be  actively 
contagious.  The  testimony  of  all  specialists  is  concurrent  upon  this  point, 
that  in  these  cases  it  is  impossible  to  determine  with  certainty  the  presence 
or  absence  of  contagious  elements.  Nothing  is  easier  than  the  diagnosis 
of  syphilis  in  the  active  stage  or  secondary  eruption ;  but  syphilis  is  not 
a  disease  of  continuous  symptoms.  In  the  intervals  between  the  outbreaks, 
when  the  disease  is  in  the  contagious  stage,  there  may  be  absolutely  no 
evidence  of  its  existence,  yet  there  may  be  an  explosion  of  contagious  ele- 
ments a  few  days  thereafter." 

Dr.  Morrow  continues : 

"Now  as  regards  hospital  treatment  and  cure,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
the  light  of  our  present  positive  knowledge  of  the  prolonged  contagious 
activity  of  syphilis  for  years  and  the  chronic  gonorrhoea,  which  may  persist 
indefinitely,  the  assignment  of  a  time  for  the  cure  of  these  diseases  is  un- 
warranted. The  contagious  laws  of  these  diseases  do  not  lend  themselves 
to  legislative  enactments.  The  treatment  of  chronic  gonorrhoea  in  women 
is  the  most  difficult  and  prolonged  in  medical  therapeutics.  Many  cases 
cannot  be  cured  without  the  removal  of  the  deeper  organs  in  which  the 
germs  find  lodgment.  If  a  woman  is  cured  she  may  be  reinfected  an  hour 
after  she  leaves  the  hospital.  .Syphilis  cannot  be  cured  in  a  year,  t\yo  or 
even  three  years,  and  in  many  cases  the  disease  is  contagious  during  a 
much  longer  period.  These  cases  may  be  whitewashed,  that  is,  cleared  of 
existing  manifestations,  but  they  are  not  cured." 

Minneapolis  Physicians. 

Wishing  to  ascertain  the  local  sentiment  upon  this  most  im- 
portant point,  your  Commission  sent  out  a  letter  containing  the 
following  paragraph,  to  representatives  of  the  Medical  profes- 
sion in  our  own  city: 

"From  your  knowledge  of  the  subject,  do  you  believe  that  public  pros- 
titution should  be  segregated?  and  why?  Is  such  a  policy  a  preventive 
of  venereal  disease?  and  to  what  extent?  Does  medical  inspection  prevent 
the  transmission  of  venereal  disease?  Would  the  evils  of  Public  Prostitu- 
tion be  greatly  minimized  if  it  were  placed  upon  a  legal  basis,  with  segre- 

49 


Ration  and  medical  inspection?     If  this  is  your  opinion,  what  are  the  facts 
npon  wliich  it  is  based?" 

The  profession  generously  and  frankly  responded : 

"Segregation  could  not  possibly  prevent  venereal  diseases  unless  the 
man  and  woman  were  both  segregated  in  one  locality  under  strict  quar- 
antine. Medical  inspection  never  has  prevented  the  transmission  of  ven- 
ereal diseases.  Under  the  most  strict  surveillance,  with  inspection  of  both 
the  man  and  woman,  it  might  be  checked." 

"Medical  inspection,  so  long  as  but  one  party  to  the  act  is  inspected, 
could  be  of  no  possible  value.  If  both  parties  were  inspected  and  quar- 
antined, something  might  be  done." 

"Medical  inspection  carefully  conducted  by  competent,  conscientious 
men,  should  certainly  tend  to  prevent  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases ; 
but  experience  has  shown  that  it  has  failed.  (1)  Because  it  is  difficult 
to  get  the  right  sort  of  examiners.  (2)  Because  only  women  are  ex- 
amined, and  a  woman  free  of  infection  today,  may  become  infected  to- 
morrow. (3)  Because  of  the  difficulty  of  detection  of  disease ;  we  have 
no  adequate  facilities  for  curing  it,  namely,  compulsory  detention  in  a 
hospital  for  venereal  diseases.  Hence,  I  say,  that  because  of  its  inadequacy, 
and  because  of  the  false  sense  of  security  it  gives,  medical  inspection  should 
not  be  established." 

"Do  you  believe  that  Public  Prostitution  should  be  segregated?  Yes. 
Is  such  a  policy  preventive  of  venereal  diseases?  No.  Does  medical  in- 
spection prevent  the  transmission  of  venereal  diseases?  Probably  to  a 
small  extent." 

The  Medical  Sub-Committee. 

One  of  the  members  of  your  Commission's  sub-committee 
on  Medical  and  Hygiene  Aspects,  has  made  the  following  state- 
ment,— in  which  the  other  members  of  his  committee  join: 

"I  am  opposed  to  segregation,  partly  for  reasons  already  given,  and 
partly  because  I  believe  segregation  means  police  indifference,  as  long  as 
the  evil  is  confined  to  the  district.  Segregation  carries  with  it  protection, 
and  educates  the  police  to  protect,  knowing  that  it  is  their  duty  to  eradi- 
cate it. 

"If  the  evil  be  not  segregated,  then  it  will  scatter  into  more  respectable 
neighborhoods.  Instead  of  this  being  an  argument  in  favor  of  segrega- 
tion, I  believe  the  thing  feared  will  be  better  in  the  end;  for  inhabitants  of 
respectable  parts  of  the  town  will  not  tolerate  it  in  their  midst  and  thus 
we  have  a  repeated  demand  for  police  activity." 


50 


"I  would  oppose  medical  examinations,  for  the  following  rea- 
sons: 

1.  There  can  be  no  medical  examination  without  at  least  an  implied 
recognition  and  license,  which  are  to  be  avoided  as  both  illegal  and  im- 
moral. 

2.  An  adequate  examination  is  not  practical.  And  one  not  thorough 
is  almost  worse  than  none,  as  it  gives  to  the  victims  a  false  feeling  of 
security. 

3.  Medical  examinations  usually  result  in  graft.  Only  the  most  skill- 
ful and  conscientious  members  of  the  profession  would  be  competent  to 
make  them  and  it  is  doubtful  if  their  services  could  be  secured  for  the 
purpose. 

4.  I  would  oppose  examinations  of  prostitutes  for  the  further  reason 
that  they  must  be  confined  to  one  sex,  and  that  is  not  fair. 

When  I  was  in  private  practice,  a  prostitute  came  into  my  office  in  a 
disgusting  condition  from  venereal  disease.  When  I  advised  her  to  stop 
"doing  business."  for  fear  she  would  spread  disease,  she  said.  "Well, 
what  do  I  care?  Didn't  they  give  it  to  me?"  One  would  almost  be 
tempted  to  say  she  was  right." 

Hennepin  County  Medical  Association. 

An  admirable  paper  was  recently  read  before  the  Hennepin 
County  Medical  Association,  with  which  organization  your  Com- 
mission have  kept  in  close  touch.  This  paper  summarized  the 
conclusions  of  modern  Medical  science  upon  the  subject  of  in- 
spection : 

"Government  regulation,  or  police  control  and  inspection,  and,  if  needs 
be,  sequestration  of  the  prostitutes,  has  been  elaborately  tried  for  gener- 
ations in  Europe.  The  result  of  the  best  directed  efforts  has  been  failure. 
Regulation  has  failed  even  in  Germany  where  the  man  as  well  as  the 
woman  can  be  controlled ;  where  men  like  Lesser,  Neisser  and  Blaschko, 
the  highest  living  authorities,  declare  that  it  is  worse  than  useless.  Founier, 
the  French  authority,  declares  that  venereal  disease  steadily  grows  worse 
in  spite  of  the  regulations,  and  that  there  is  this  serious  disadvantage 
about  the  'reglementation,'  as  it  is  called,  that  it  gives  the  government 
stamp  of  approval  to  the  iniquitous  traffic  and  immunity  for  infection, 
which  is  but  specious  and  illusory." 

***** 

"The  prevention  of  venereal  disease  depends  upon  the  prevention  of 
prostitution,  and,  in  the  language  of  a  distinguished  writer  and  worker  in 
the  field,  "It  is  not  a  question  of  making  prostitution  safe,  but  of  prevent- 
ing the  making  of  prostitutes." 

51 


The  foregoing  expressions  of  opinion  by  distinguished  Medi- 
cal authorities  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Medical  inspection  of 
prostitution,  as  a  means  of  preventing  venereal  disease,  is  at  least 
seriously  in  question,  if  not  regarded  as  entirely  useless. 

The  Commission's  Conclusions. 

The  following  points,  after  reviewing  the  evidence  obtain- 
able, seem  to  be  fairly  well  established : 

Sanitary  Inefficiency. 

1.  The  health  certificate  furnished  to  the  prostitute  removes 
one  great  obstacle  from  those  who  are  tempted — fear  of  disease; 
and  thus  encourages  and  increases  exposures. 

"The  method  of  regulation  was  introduced  in  Breslau  in  a  very  scien- 
tific and  Prussian  manner.  That  means  military  regulation.  Every  pros- 
titute was  brought  before  the  Department  of  Health,  and  if  disease  was 
not  detected  she  received  a  certificate  that  she  was  well.  The  year  after 
there  was  13  per  cent  more  gonorrhoea  in  Breslau  than  before  the  system 
was  established.  Why  ?  Because  every  man  asked  for  the  certificate,  and 
if  he  found  it  correct  he  assumed  there  was  no  danger,  and  he  got  the  in- 
fection. The  main  point  is  that  the  examination  does  not  prove  any- 
thing."    (Dr  Stanislas  Lapowski,  N.  Y.,  Social  Diseases,  Oct.,  1906.) 

2.  Registered  prostitutes  greatly  object  to  the  examination, 
successfully  resort  to  methods  for  avoiding  it,  and  rapidly  pass 
into  the  class  of  clandestine  prostitutes.  From  all  that  we  can 
learn  upon  the  subject,  Medical  Inspection,  if  it  at  all  aimed  at 
thoroughness,  would  do  more  to  scatter  Prostitution  than  law 
enforcement.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  one  tenth  of  the  total 
number  of  prostitutes  are  examined  under  a  system  of  reglemen- 
tation. 

3.  It  is  wholly  impossible  to  determine  positively  that  a 
woman  is  free  from  disease,  and  the  examination  becomes  a  farce 
in  the  hands  of  any  but  the  most  expert  and  painstaking  phy- 
sician. 


52 


Even  where  most  efficiently  and  carefully  carried  out  (in- 
cluding the  bacteriological  test  for  gonorrhoea),  Professors  Neis- 
ser,  Jadassohn  and  others,  suggest  that  the  woman's  papers 
should  bear  a  distinct  notice  that  while  the  examination  lessens 
the  risk  of  contagion,  the  certificate  affords  no  guarantee  of 
safety  to  clients. 

4.  It  is  admitted  that  a  woman  herself  healthy,  may  pass 
on  disease  from  client  to  client. 

Danger  of  Police  Abuses. 

5.  Any  system  of  Medical  Inspection  is  Hable  to  be  abused. 

(1)  "It  corrupts  and  demoralizes  the  police  and  offers  endless  oppor- 
tunities for  blackmail  and  extortion.  Here  it  may  be  emphasized  that  al- 
though there  is  in  the  United  States  no  official  recognition  of  vice,  yet 
there  is  blackmail  and  extortion  because  the  police  in  many  cities,  under 
the  pressure  of  corrupt  social  elements,  have  developed  a  system  of  pro- 
tection for  vice  which  approaches  closely  to  an  official  alliance  with  it. 

(2)  "It  exposes  innocent  women  to  persecution.  Numerous  instances 
of  this  kind  are  on  record.  Respectable  girls  have  been  reported  to  the 
police  from  motives  of  revenge  or  jealousy,  and  self-supporting  women 
have  been  driven  from  positions  and  their  property  manipulated  away  from 
them.  Cases  have  been  known  where  such  victims  have  been  driven  to 
suicide. 

(3)  "Regulation  bears  with  special  hardship  on  the  poorest  women. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  only  the  very  poor  and  defenceless  are  exposed 
to  its  full  horrors.  The  fact  that  immoral  women  who  are  able  to  com- 
mand ample  means  are  safe  against  the  severities  of  the  law,  has  been 
frequently  mentioned  by  writers  belonging  to  different  countries."  (Dock, 
Hygiene  and  Morality.) 

Involves  Indorsement  by  the  Community. 

6.  Inspection,  when  it  takes  place  under  the  Health  De- 
partment of  a  city,  carries  with  it  inevitably  the  indorsement  of 
the  community.  With  or  without  law,  the  community  says,  in 
effect:  "Prostitution  is  a  necessity,  and  we  must  do  all  we  can 
to  make  it  safe." 

It  puts  governments  in  the  position  of  indorsing  the  assumption  that 
women  may  be  sacrificed  for  men's  pleasures.  It  even  tends  to  make  it 
appear  that  women  are  the  chief  offenders  and  the  primary  corrupting  in- 

53 


flucnccs,  and  may  therefore  be  treated  with  a  disregard  of  justice  and 
decency.  On  this  point  M.  Jules  Favre  said:  "The  worst  that  could 
befall  the  public  health  is  nothing  to  the  corruption  of  morals  and  national 
life  engendered,  propagated,  and  prolonged  by  the  system  of  ofificial  surveil- 
lance." Again,  with  regulation,  the  state  is  placed  in  a  position  not  clearly 
different  from  that  of  the  individual  agents  of  immorality,  and  all  tax- 
payers, women  as  well  as  men,  are  compelled  to  pay  for  the  maintenance 
of  officials  to  supervise  Prostitution.  A  German  member  of  the  Reichstag, 
speaking  on  this  point,  said :  "1  he  state  which  officially  tolerates  and 
guarantees  houses  of  prostitution  assumes  the  role  of  Procurer,  a  delin- 
quent whom  the  German  penal  code  punishes  with  imprisonment  and 
iiard  labor." 

One-Sided  and  Unjust. 

7.  Reglementation  does  not  apply  to  the  man,  who  is  the 
active  carrier  of  disease  to  the  healthy.  It  would  be  unjust  to 
impose  such  inspection  and  examination  upon  the  woman  who 
is,  after  all,  the  least  dangerous  element  in  the  case,  while  the 
man  who  distributes  the  infection  is  exempt. 

The  whole  proposition  is  based  upon  a  wrong  and  vicious 
theory  of  the  sexes,  a  theory  that  an  older  school  of  physicians 
seemed  to  indorse,  but  which  their  more  modern  and  scientific 
successors  have  discredited ;  a  theory  which  still  lingers  in  the 
cynical  notions  of  morality  which  obtain  among  the  "gilded 
youth"  and  blase  men  in  middle  age  and  beyond. 

"As  a  result  of  this  double  standard  of  morality,  society  practically 
separates  its  women  into  two  classes ;  from  the  one  it  demands  chastity, 
the  other  is  set  apart  for  the  gratification  of  the  sexual  caprices  of  its  men. 
It  thus  proclaims  the  doctrine,  imvioral  as  it  is  unhygienic,  that  debauchery 
is  a  tiecessity  for  its  men.  The  great  gulf  fixed  between  virtuous  and 
immoral  women  is  bridged  over  by  social  convention  which  permits  men 
to  pass  and  repass  freely.  The  ranks  of  the  outcast  are  constantly  re- 
cruited by  new  accessions  from  the  community  of  the  virtuous,  which 
the  men  carry  with  them.  To  the  woman  there  is  no  return,  but  the  man 
may  emerge  from  the  mire  of  dissipation  without  a  spot  of  social  shame 
upon  his  character;  he  may  return  from  the  haunts  of  vice  and  mingle 
freely  with  the  virtuous  women  of  his  social  set."  (Dr.  Prince  A.  Morrow, 
Social  Diseases  and  Marriage,  p.  342.) 

The  Brussels  International  Conference  (1902)  unanimously 
passed  the  following  resolution : 

54 


"The  most  important  and  the  most  effectual  means  for  combating  the 
diffusion  of  venereal  maladies  consists  in  widespread  information  as  to 
the  importance  of  these  maladies  and  the  very  grave  dangers  attending 
them.  It  is  especially  necessary  to  teach  young  men  not  only  that  chastity 
and  continence  are  not  injurious,  but  that  these  virtues  are  highly  recom- 
mended from  the  medical  point  of  view." 

The  moral  of  this  whole  survey,  from  the  Medical  stand- 
point, is  this :  If  men  wish  to  avoid  venereal  disease  it  is  in  their 
power  to  do  so,  withotit  segregating  prostitutes  and  sending 
the  Health  Department  to  inspect  them.  The  method  is  simple 
and  will  prove  effective : 

Lead  clean  lives,  such  as  you  expect  of  your  wives  and 
daughters. 

Let  young  men  lead  clean  lives  such  as  they  believe  their 
mothers  and  sisters  lead,  such  as  they  zvill  demand  of  the  girls 
they  are  to  marry. 

This  is  their  only  absolute  safety. 


55 


VI. 

Xke  Experience  and  Methods  of 
Other  Cities 


VI. 

Tke  Experience  ami  Metkods  of  Otker  Cities 

One  of  the  lines  of  investigation  pursued  by  your  Commission 
has  been  the  methods  employed  by  other  cities,  and  their  experi- 
ences in  handling  the  problem  of  Public  Prostitution.  We  have 
thus  endeavored  to  obtain  such  light  and  information  as  would  be 
of  service  in  making  recommendations  for  our  own  city.  In  the 
course  of  his  labors,  our  Secretary  has  carried  on  correspondence 
with  the  authorities  of  between  60  and  70  other  cities,  or  obtained 
their  published  reports.  In  several  cases  where  we  have  heard  of 
policies  said  to  "be  working  unusually  well,  we  have  sent  special 
committees  of  inquiry.  In  each  instance,  your  Honor's  private 
secretary  was  a  member  of  such  committees.  Among  the  cities 
thus  visited  were  Cleveland  and  Toledo,  whose  policies  of  segre- 
gation had  been  commended  as  almost  ideal  by  General  Theodore 
A.  Bingham,  Ex-Police  Commissioner  of  New  York  City,  in!  an 
article  published  in  Hampton's  Magazine. 

General  Summary. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  following  summary  represents  the 
methods  of  these  cities  and  the  results  of  their  experience  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1910  and  early  in  the  year  1911. 

(1)  In  32  American  cities,  vice  is  said  to  be  regulated,  in 
the  general  sense  that  the  police  take  an  active  part  in  handling 
the  evil.  In  these  cities  the  matter  is  left  largely  in  their 
hands  to  pursue  such  policy  as  they  may  think  best. 

(2)  In  response  to  the  question,  "Is  the  Social  Evil  li- 
censed?" all  the  cities  answered  "No";  but  in  Atlantic  City,  N.  J., 
and  Cheyenne,  Wyo.,  the  regulation  of  vice  is  such  that  it  is 
licensed  in  fact,  though  not  in  law.  In  these  two  cities,  there  is 
segregation  of  prostitutes,  medical  examination  and  a  system  of 

59 


fines  for  houses  of  ill-fame  and  tiieir  inmates.  The  Board  of 
Health  assumes  tiie  responsibility  for  the  physical  examination 
in  Cheyenne,  and  all  prostitutes  are  regularly  fined  $10  a  month. 

(3)  In  33  cities,  the  Social  Evil  is  segregated.  Of  these 
cities  14  report  that  there  is  a  system  of  physical  examination  of 
prostitutes;  but  in  only  3  instances,  the  two  just  cited  and  Mans- 
field, O.,  is  the  examination  conducted  by  the  Board  of  Health. 

(4)  Ten  cities  report  that  they  have  a  system  of  fines  for 
disorderly  houses  or  houses  of  prostitution,  in  each  city  carried 
out  in  a  manner  slightly  different  from  all  the  rest.  For  ex- 
ample, in  Baltimore,  "The  keepers  of  such  houses  are  reported 
once  a  year,  indicted  and  tried ;  fines  are  imposed  in  the  discretion 
of  the  court."  Dallas,  Texas,  "Arrests  are  made  by  policemen; 
cases  are  tried  in  corporation  court,  v^hich  assesses  all  fines." 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  "Warrants  are  issued  monthly  by  the  city  at- 
torney, and  fines  are  levied  by  the  police  judge."  Mansfield,  O., 
"By  arresting  the  keepers  of  the  houses."  Nevv^  Haven,  Conn., 
"Proprietors  are  arrested;  usual  fine  $100,  or  three  to  six  months 
in  jail,  or  both."  Peoria,  111.,  "Fined  every  three  months; 
keepers  $25  and  costs,  inmates  $5  and  costs." 

(5)  All  of  these  cities  prohibit  street  walking,  or  solicitng 
on  the  streets. 

(6)  In  reply  to  the  questions:  "Do  you,  as  a  result  of  your 
experience,  favor  regulation  by  the  police,  licensing  by  the  city, 
or  segregation?"  Thirteen  Chiefs  of  Police  Departments  favored 
all  three;  fifteen  favored  regulation  and  segregation,  without  li- 
censing; nine  disapproved  of  all  three,  and  seven  refused  to  com- 
mit themselves. 

The  nine  cities  whose  police  authorities  disapproved  of  all 
methods  except  that  of  suppression  through  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws,  were :  Boston,  Cambridge,  Mass. ;  Charleston,  S.  C. ; 
Hoboken,  N.  J. ;  Lincoln,  Neb. ;  Portland,  Me. ;  Springfield, 
Mass. ;  Troy,  N.  Y.,  and  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

60 


Experiences  With  Segregation. 

We  have  thus  stated  as  briefly  as  possible  the  general  situa- 
tion. But  there  are  some  other  facts  which  we  gather,  and  which 
do  not  lie  upon  the  surface,  facts  which  demand  a  more  complete 
statement. 

The  most  stringent  system  of  segregation  does  not  confine 
prostitution  within  the  prescribed  limits.  The  authorities  of  no 
city  claim  that  they  have  entirely  coralled  it.  Some  report  better 
results  than  others ;  but  beyond  the  sharpest  line  of  demarkation, 
there  is  still  a  problem. 

One  of  our  correspondents,  an  attorney  of  the  highest 
standing,  writes  of  the  situation  in  Denver : 

"In  answer  to  the  question  you  write  concerning  the  problem  of  social 
vice  in  its  many  bearings,  I  answer  as  follows  regarding  the  conditions  in 
Denver : 

1.  There  is  no  definite  policy  observed  here,  unless  it  may  be  said 
to  be  segregation  of  the  worst  cases  and  general  indifference  as  to  the 
cases  scattered  at  large  over  the  city. 

2.  The  policy  is  not  approved  by  the  best  people,  but  their  protests 
have  only  been  spasmodic  and  without  results. 

3.  This  has  been  the  course  of  all  of  the  city  administrations  since 
I  came  to  Denver  in  the  summer  of  1900." 

The  report  of  our  own  special  committee  states  that  in  Mil- 
waukee "there  are  disorderly  houses  and  assignation  houses  out- 
side of  the  regular  district."  "Street- walking,"  however,  in  Mil- 
waukee, "is  handled  with  an  iron  hand.  Girls  are  brought  into 
court  with  but  little  ceremony."  In  Toledo,  to  which  we  have 
been  referred  as  a  model,  with  its  two  segregated  districts,  one 
of  them  peculiarly  bad  and  vicious,  the  Social  Evil  is  looked  upon 
and  handled  with  a  great  deal  of  tolerance,  and  exists  outside  the 
limits  as  well  as  inside ;  while  "street  walking  is  distinctly  bad." 
It  is  significant  that  the  Toledo  Chief  of  Police  advised  our 
special  committee  not  to  establish  a  "Red  Light  district,"  as  did 
also  Chief  Kohler,  of  Cleveland. 

61 


In  this  last  nainecl  city,  where  our  special  committee  found 
segregation  and  regulation  at  its  best,  they  report : 

"The  police  exercise  rigid  surveillance,  and  their  regulations  are 
extremely  arbitrary.  The  sale  of  liquor  and  the  use  of  lights  and  of  music 
are  absolutely  prohibited.  It  is  claimed  by  the  police,  and  from  all  informa- 
tion that  we  could  obtain,  their  claim  is  well  founded,  that  the  sale  of 
liquor  has  been  practically  eliminated.  There  are  none  of  the  usual  evi- 
dences of  the  character  of  the  district,  and  a  stranger  would  not  know  that 
he  was  in  such  a  district. 

"The  police  are  equally  arbitrary  in  their  handling  of  every  phase  of 
the  Social  Evil,  including  street  walking,  assignation  houses,  and  saloons 
that  harbor  vicious  women.  They  hold  the  saloon  responsible  for  the  con- 
duct of  patrons,  and  there  is  an  almost  complete  absence  of  the  associa- 
tion of  the  saloon  and  the  prostitute.  Of  street  walking  there  is  little  or 
none  that  is  visible." 

On  the  other  hand,  in  spite  of  this  strict  regulation  and 
segregation,  there  was  strong  testimony  brought  to  our  com- 
mittee that  the  situation  outside  of  these  limits  was  not  subject 
to  regulation.  A  prominent  citizen  of  Cleveland,  one  familiar 
with  social  conditions,  informed  them  that  "there  were  rnany 
assignation  houses  in  operation  in  Cleveland,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  women  of  shady  reputations  scattered  through  the  city  in 
flats  and  other  places."  An  officer  of  the  Humane  Society  had 
no  specific  knowledge  of  the  conditions  along  this  line.  One 
interesting  point  he  brought  out  was  that  his  department  had 
made  a  special  investigation  of  the  causes  of  illegitimacy  in  Cleve- 
land, and  that  the  girls  in  most  instances  testified  that  they  met 
the  man  in  the  case  at  a  dance  hall.  The  dance  hall  situation  in 
Cleveland  is  not  favorable.  The  sale  of  liquor  is  frequently 
allowed  at  large  public  dances,  given  by  societies,  etc.  The  dance 
halls  are  supposed  to  close  at  midnight,  but  in  some  cases  special 
permits  are  given  to  run  till  two  o'clock. 

In   Cincinnati,   O.,   although  the   Social  Evil  is  segregated, 

conditions  are  deplorable  throughout  the  city.     Mr.  Leonard  A. 

Watson,  Secretary  of  the  Cincinnati  Vigilance  Society,  reports, 

in  May  1911,  as  follows: 

"The  result  has  been  that  all  kinds  of  degradation  have  developed 
within  the  so-called  'Red  Light'  district,  and  women  and  men  have  been 

62 


allowed  to  conduct  houses  of  assignation  all  over  the  city.  These  houses 
of  ill-resort  being,  in  many  instances,  opposite  churches  or  schoolhouses, 
and  even  alongside  of  them,  where  children  and  others  were  obliged  to 
pass  them,  going  to  and  from  the  church  or  school.  Apartment  houses  in 
the  residence  district  have  been  invaded ;  the  well-known  'madams'  have 
set  up  their  nefarious  business  in  some  of  the  most  respectable  buildings 
of  the  city.  Good  women  and  girls,  living  in  these  apartment  houses,  have 
been  jostled  by  the  courtesan  and  roue.  The  'white  slaver'  has  had  his 
headquarters  in  the  most  select  neighborhoods ;  and  the  best  restaurants, 
places  of  amusement,  and  even  schools  and  conservatories,  have  been  hunt- 
ing grounds  of  the  procuresses ;  and  all  of  the  time  these  people  were 
known  to  the  police ;  and,  except  for  protection  which  they  received  from 
those  'higher  up,'  would  have  been  apprehended  and  forced  out  of  business 
by  men  on  the  'force.' " 

Experiences  With  Law  Enforcement. 

Turning  to  the  other  class  of  cities,  whose  authorities  dis- 
approve of  regulation,  segregation,  and  licensing,  and  believe  that 
the  enforcement  of  law  should  be  tried,  there  is  a  spirit  of  hope 
breathing  through  their  reports  and  a  record  of  accomplishment 
upon  which  the  hopes  seem  to  be  justly  based.  The  experience  is, 
in  most  instances,  brief;  but  it  is  suggestive. 

Fall  River,  Mass.  (John  R.  Rostrom,  Clerk  Board  of  Police.)  "This 
department  has  endeavored  to  suppress  prostitution  and  enforce  the  laws 
against  it.  Excellent  results  have  been  obtained.  It  is  believed  that  there 
is  not  a  regular  house  of  prostitution  in  Fall  River.  Any  department  that 
is  honest  and  alert  can  keep  such  houses  out  of  its  territory.' 

Lincoln,  Neb.  (D.  L.  Love,  Mayor,  Oct.  7,  1909.)  "Your  questions  all 
relate  to  the  regulation,  licensing  and  segregation  of  the  evil.  We  do  not 
attempt  to  do  any  of  these  three  things.  What  we  do  attempt  to  do  is  to 
suppress  it  entirely,  the  same  as  any  other  crime. 

"Up  to  two  years  ago  we  had  followed  the  policy  of  segregation.  For 
two  years  we  have  not  had  a  dive  of  that  kind  in  the  city.  We  are  much 
better  satisfied  with  present  conditions  than  with  conditions  under  the 
segregation  policy. 

"We  find  that  the  argument  commonly  used  in  favor  of  segregation 
that  otherwise  it  will  be  driven  into  blocks  in  other  portions  of  the  city, 
is  not  sustained  by  our  experience.  We  do  not  have  as  much  trouble  with 
the  vice  in  blocks  and  rooming  houses  as  zvc  had  when  we  had  a  segregated 
area.  We  do  not  find  it  a  difficult  matter  to  keep  notorious  characters  out 
of  the  city  entirely  now,  and  we  can  unqualifiedly  recommend  the  policy 
of  suppression." 

The  above  letters  are  quoted  from  the  May,  1911,  issue  of 
Vigilance,  published  in  New  York  City.  The  following  was  writ- 
ten directly  to  the  Secretary  of  your  Honor's  Commission : 

63 


Los  AnRclcs,  Cal.  (Geo.  Aloxamicr,  Mayor.)  "In  reply  to  yours  of 
November  28th,  1910,  I  will  slate  that  iirostitiition  is  proliibiled  by  the  state 
laws  of  California,  and  the  renting  of  houses  for  such  purposes  is  also 
prohibited  by  the  state  laws.  Lip  to  the  time  the  present  administration 
went  into  elYect,  April  1,  1909,  there  was  a  segregated  district.  That  we 
have  put  out  of  business  and  now,  while  we  have  some  prostitutes  who  do 
business  in  the  rooming  bouses  bore,  the  evil  is  tnuch  reduced.  I  believe 
the  proper  way  to  bancile  the  question  of  the  social  vice  is  to  do  all  that  is 
possible  to  suppress  it.  If  the  prostitutes  are  chased  from  place  to  place 
and  are  more  difTicult  of  access,  it  will  be  that  much  better  for  our  young 
men.  I  believe  it  to  be  much  worse  to  have  open  dens  of  vice,  where  num- 
bers congregate  and  each  tries  to  outdo  the  others  in  vilencss,  than  it  is 
even  to  have  the  prostitutes  scattered  through  the  town." 

Des  Moines,  Iowa.  (Special  Committee  of  this  Commission.)  "Your 
committee  spent  three  days  in  Des  Moines,  and  during  that  time  had  long 
interviews  with  Mayor  Hanna,  Mr.  Roe,  Director  of  Public  Safety;  Chief  of 
Police  Yaeger,  Captain  Miller  of  the  Police  Department  and  other  officers; 
also  several  newspaper  men.  including  police  reporters  and  managing 
editors;  also  several  physicians  of  well  known  local  standing,  including 
Dr.  C.  W.  Losh,  City  Physician  for  three  years  while  the  'Red  Light'  dis- 
trict was  in  existence,  and  for  two  years  afterward;  also  two  well  known 
ministers  who  were  prominent  in  the  movement  to  clear  up  Des  Moines. 

"Des  Moines,  up  to  the  fall  of  1908,  had  two  distinct  'Red  Light'  dis- 
tricts. They  were  located  in  tumble-down  old  houses  along  the  river,  and 
in  the  'twilight  zone'  between  business  and  residence  property.  Both  'Red 
Lights'  were  peculiarly  vicious.  Here  was  a  combination  of  the  vicious 
of  all  classes,  including  criminals,  and  much  of  the  crime  and  disorder  in 
the  city  originated  there.  The  proprietors  as  well  as  the  inmates  of  both 
these  districts  were  exploited  by  business  interests  to  the  limit.  There 
was  very  inefficient  police  surveillance,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
Des  Moines  community,  following  the  reorganization  of  its  municipal 
affairs  by  the  substitution  of  the  commission  form  of  goverment  for  the 
old  system,  should  take  radical  steps  against  it.  Soon  after  the  new  com- 
mission assumed  the  reins  of  government  both  'Red  Light'  districts  were 
put  out  of  business  absolutely,  and  this  has  been  the  settled  policy  during 
the  years  and  months  since. 

"After  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  situation  your  committee  was 
able  to  agree  upon  the  following  conclusions  of  fact : 

"That  segregation  in  Des  Moines,  under  the  old  system,  only  partially 
segregated.  That  from  one-quarter  to  one-third  of  the  public  prostitutes 
in  the  city  were  living  and  operating  outside  of  the  district. 

"That  following  the  closing  of  the  districts  most  of  the  inmates  lek 
the  city,  and  have  remained  away  permanently. 

"That  there  has  been  a  notable  decrease  in  crime  and  disorder  since 
the  closing  of  the  district,  and  also  a  great  improvement  in  the  general 
moral  condition  of  the  city. 

64 


"That  the  new  system  of  suppression  has  diminished  the  evil  to 
the  attainable  minimum.  Mayor  Hanna  testified  that  in  his  opinion  there 
had  been  a  reduction  of  sixty  per  cent  in  actual  prostitution. 

"That  public  opinion  in  Des  Moines  stands  strongly  for  a  continuation 
of  the  present  system,  the  claim  being  made  that  except  for  those  interested 
in  a  business  way,  or  who  think  the  present  system  hurts  business,  practi- 
cally everybody  is  on  that  side. 

"That  the  police  department  is  honestly  committed  to  making  suppres- 
sion effective,  and  has  effective  control  of  the  situation. 

"That  under  the  present  s.vstem  there  are  some  vicious  women  scattered 
through  the  city,  and  plainly  apparent  street  walking  to  some  extent.  The 
first  is  not  at  all  obvious  and  the  women  are  operating  very  guardedly,  and 
are  kept  on  the  run  by  the  police.  The  street  walkers  are  also  extremely 
wary  and  here  again  the  police  are  vigilant. 

"That  in  Des  Moines  there  is  apparent  the  same  evil  as  in  most  of  the 
cities — of  large  numbers  of  young  girls  on  the  streets  at  night.  The  police 
are  unable  to  meet  this  situation  effectively  on  account  of  lack  of  laws 
giving  jurisdiction. 

"That  public  sentiment  in  Des  Moines  would  not  stand  for  a  return  of 
the  old  'Red  Light'  conditions," 

Boston,  Mass.  The  most  notable  example  of  a  large  city 
that  has  abandoned  the  policy  of  segregation  for  that  of  law 
enforcement,  is  the  city  of  Boston.  A  brief  statement  of  con- 
ditions from  the  best  available  sources  is  given. 

We  quote  from  the  Report  of  the  Police  Commissioner  for 
1910: 

"The  particularly  vigorous  work  of  the  police  in  the  years  1908  and 
1909  for  the  suppression  of  public  and  semi-public  sexual  immorality  was 
continued  in  1910 :  but  the  previous  work  seems  in  itself  to  have  reduced  in 
some  directions  the  number  of  onnnrtunities  for  successful  action.  The 
number  of  persons  prosecuted  in  1908  and  1909  for  keeping  houses  of  ill- 
fame  was  very  much  the  largest  in  the  historv  of  the  department,  and  to 
that  fact,  as  well  as  to  circumstances  which  will  be  described  later,  is  to  be 
attributed  the  reduction  in  the  number  prosecuted  in  1910."     (pp.  14-15.) 

The  tables  show  that  the  number  of  houses  of  ill-fame  prose- 
cuted in  1910  was  60,  while  in  1908  and  1909  respectively,  the 
number  was  114  and  112.  Naturally  some  work  had  been 
previously  done  which  did  not  need  repetition.  The  number  of 
street-walkers  arrested  and  prosecuted  in  1910  was  366. 

We  add  the  following  letters  in  response  to  inquiries  ad- 
dressed by  your  Honor's  Commission  to  social  workers  in  Boston, 

65 


askinc:   for  what   they   know  of  the  results  of  Chief  O'Meara's 

policy.     The  first  is  from  Robert  A.  Woods,  South  End  House. 

one  of  the  most   jirominent   Social    Settlement   workers   in  the 

United  States : 

"I  am  very  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  policy  of  the  suppression  of 
prostitution  is  the  best  both  in  its  immediate  and  its  long-range  results. 
This  is  the  result  of  nineteen  years  pretty  close  observation  of  the  subject 
in  Boston  in  the  district  where  the  Social  Evil  flourishes.  I  should  think 
that  one  of  your  most  important  questions  for  consideration  is  whether  the 
whole  philosophy  upon  which  the  segregation  policy  is  based  is  not  rapidly 
crumbling.  Even  if  we  were  certain  of  the  outward  demonstrations  of  the 
success  of  that  policy,  and  I  doubt  if  there  be  any  such  proof,  the  new 
attitude  of  medical,  psychological  and  ethical  science  would  put  them  out 
of  date." 

Again,  Mr.  Woods  writes,  under  date  of  Jan.  27,  1911  : 

"My  observation  of  the  policy  of  segregation  has  always  made  me 
feel  that  conditions  and  results  zvere  vniclt  zvorsc  under  it  than  under  the 
present  system.  If  under  an  absolutely  rigid  system  of  administration, 
prostitution  could  be  set  ofF  on  an  island  in  Boston  Harbor  with  no  means 
of  approach  but  by  boats  authorized  by  the  Police  Department,  we  should 
have  an  opportunity  worth  talking  about  of  testing  segregation.  I  have 
never  yet  heard  of  any  policy  of  segregation  which  meant  in  the  least  what 
it  said.  It  meant  simply  that  the  speaker  or  writer  wished  to  remove  even 
the  fringes  of  prostitution  from  his  oivn  neit'Jiborhood  and  put  it  all  into 
the  neighborhood  ivhere  I  lived." 

Mr.  J.  Frank  Chase,  Boston,  Secretary  of  the  "New  England 
Watch  and  Ward  Society,"  writes  under  date  of  Dec.  30,  1910: 

"Under  suppression,  prostitution  is  no  more  scattered  than  under 
segregation. 

"Boston  is  the  center  of  1.500,000  people.  There  are  670.000  in  the  city 
limits.  Now  prostitution  is  here  to  some  extent,  but  to  a  less  extent  than 
under  anv  other  policy  ever  in  force. 

"In  Boston,  under  segregation,  prostitution  zvas  scattered  as  much  as 
it  is  today.  These  houses  were  situated  in  streets  far  away  from  the  segre- 
gated district,  and  used  by  men  who  for  any  reason  preferred  not  to  be 
seen  in  the  district,  where  they  could  only  be  under  suspicion  of  immorality. 
Though  I  have  recently  visited  fifteen  cities  with  segregated  districts.  I  was 
able  to  find  houses  in  all  of  these  cities  outside  of  the  segregated  district 
by  tipping  a  cab  driver  who  would  take  me  there.  Segregation  is  showing 
how  to  handle  a  problem  by  doing  nothing  zvith  it." 

The  best  testimonial  to  the  success  of  Chief  O'Meara's  policy, 
and  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  citizens  with  it,  is  the  fact  that 
he  has  just  been  reappointed  by  the  Governor. 

Omaha  has  just  inaugurated  a  policy  of  law  enforcement. 

66 


VII. 

The  Present  Situation  m  Minneapolis 


VII. 

The  Present  Situation  in  Minneapolis 

This  subject  is  one  of  the  most  important  connected  with 
the  investigation  of  your  Honor's  Commission,  and  it  has  a 
vital  bearing  on  the  general  conclusions  they  have  reached.  If 
the  facts  as  ascertained  indicate  that  there  has  been  a  general 
diffusion  of  the  evil  through  the  city,  following  the  closing  of  the 
"Red  Light"  district,  such  as  to  constitute  an  increased  menace 
to  public  health  and  morals,  and  that  this  is  an  inevitable  and  per- 
manent result  of  such  closing,  the  sentiment  of  Minneapolis  would 
condemn  the  present  situation,  and  demand  a  return,  if  practi- 
cable, to  the  former  system  of  tolerated  segregation.  To  the 
objection  that  this  would  be  contrary  to  law,  the  reply  would 
be  returned,  "Salus  populi  suprema  lex" — the  safety  of  the  peo- 
ple is  the  highest  law. 

Sources  of  Information. 

The  sub-committee  of  your  Honor's  Commission  to  which 
this  grave  responsibility  was  entrusted,  have  thoroughly  rec- 
ognized the  importance  of  the  task,  and  have  used  every  means 
in  their  power  to  secure  such  information  as  to  vice  conditions 
in  Minneapolis,  both  before  and  since  the  closing  of  the  Sixth 
Ward  resorts,  as  would  leave  no  doubts  in  their  own  minds  at 
least  as  to  the  actual  facts. 

(1)  The  Mayor  and  the  former  Chief  of  Police,  Col,  Cor- 
riston,  promptly  put  the  resources  of  the  police  department  at 
our  disposal,  and  they  have  in  every  way  co-operated  to  secure 
the  real  inside  facts  regarding  the  situation  in  the  city  since 
the  closing  of  the  "Red  Light"  district.  The  present  Chief, 
Michael  Mealey,  has  given  the  same  cordial  co-operation  as  his 
predecessor. 


69 


(2)  In  the  course  of  the  iiKjuiry,  we  have  had  many  inter- 
views with  nicnihers  of  the  poHce  department,  inchidini^:  pre- 
cinct captains,  police  sergeants  covering  the  down-town  dis- 
tricts, and  detectives  engaged  in  the  special  work  of  watching 
the  social  evil ;  also  persons  formerly  connected  with  the  depart- 
ment. We  believe  that  these  men  have  given  us  the  facts  as 
they  know  them  and  without  reservation. 

(3)  Individual  members  of  the  committee  have  made  dili- 
gent inquiry  outside  of  police  circles,  from  newspaper  men,  night 
hack-drivers,  patrons  and  proprietors  of  down-town  hotels,  and 
many  others  having  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  down- 
town world  by  night,  or  for  other  reasons  possessed  of  a  special 
knowledge  of  the  subject. 

(4)  During  the  last  winter  and  early  spring,  the  commit- 
tee secured  from  police  and  other  sources  trustworthy  lists  lo- 
cating a  large  number  of  the  inmates  of  the  Sixth  Ward  dis- 
trict who  remained  in  the  city  following  the  closing  order  of 
April,  1910,  and  of  practically  all  places  in  the  city  then  known 
to  harbor  prostitutes  as  residents  or  otherwise,  or  under  sus- 
picion, whether  in  house,  flat,  apartment  house,  hotel  or  other- 
wise located.  The  situation  in  this  regard  is  changing  constantly 
and  an  absolutely  accurate  list  is  out  of  the  question.  What  may 
be  a  correct  list  today  may  require  considerable  revision  a  week 
later.  Your  committee  have  taken  great  pains  to  check  up  the 
above  lists  from  time  to  time  and  to  secure  the  actual  facts,  and 
believe  they  have  been  reasonably  successful.  But  we  do  not 
profess  to  have  followed  all  the  prostitutes  in  the  city  as  they 
have  shifted  their  hiding  places  during  the  last  two  or  three 
months. 

Existing  Status. 

The  information  obtained  by  the  sub-committee  from  the 
sources  and  in  the  manner  outlined  above  has  led  your  CommJs- 
sion,  at  this  date,  June  26,  1911,  to  the  following  conclusions: 

70 


1.  That  there  has  never  been  a  period  in  MinneapoHs  with- 
in the  memory  of  members  of  this  Commission,  a  period  cov- 
ering twenty  or  more  years,  when  the  conditions  as  regards 
PubHc  Prostitution  were  so  generally  satisfactory,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  moral  welfare  of  the  zvhole  community,  as  dur- 
ing the  period  since  November,  1910,  the  date  when  the  police 
department  put  into  eftect  the  drastic  order  prohibiting  saloons 
from  harboring  prostitutes  and  directing  the  police  to  pursue  a 
vigorous  policy  for  the  elimination  of  disorderly  houses,  wher- 
ever located  in  the  city. 

2.  That  the  police  department,  during  this  period,  has 
shown  zeal  and  vigor  in  the  handling  of  this  problem,  and  has 
done  it  so  effectively  as  to  demonstrate  that,  given  a  capable 
police  administration,  with  officers  and  men  honestly  committed 
to  making  such  a  policy  a  success,  the  evils  of  prostitution  in 
Minneapolis  can  be  kept  dozvn  to  a  minimum  under  a  system 
that  will  not  recognize  or  tolerate  it  in  any  form,  whether  seg- 
regated or  otherwise ;  at  least  until  the  population  is  much  greater, 
and  present  physical  and  social  conditions  are  materially  changed. 

Street-Walking. 

3.  That  since  the  above  date.  Street- Walking,  at  least  in 
its  more  obvious  manifestations,  has  been  greatly  lessened  as  a 
factor  in  Public  Prostitution.  There  has  been,  however,  as  we 
state  later,  an  alarminglv  large  and  increasing  number  of  young 
girls  in  the  streets  at  night,  without  proper  escort ;  but  the  known 
prostitute  with  her  professional  methods  has  largely  disappeared 
from  the  streets, — a  situation  due,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Com- 
mission, to  the  exclusion  of  vicious  ivomen  from  the  saloons,  and 
to  the  capable  zvork  of  the  police.  Street-Walking,  however,  has 
prevailed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  under  all  administrations ; 
it  has  had  no  direct  connection  apparently  with  the  city's  policy 
of  segregation,  or  the  reverse. 


71 


The  Dispersion. 

4.  We  have  already  ineiUioncd  that  there  were  but  120 
inmates  of  the  houses  in  the  Sixth  Ward  "Red  Lii;ht"  district. 
Many  of  these  left  the  city  promptly  upon  the  closing  of  the 
resorts  in  April,  1910.  With  the  adoption  of  a  definite  and  con- 
tinuous policy  of  vice  suppression,  many  of  the  others  will  doubt- 
less follow. 

5.  That  some  of  those  remaining-  in  the  city,  located  them- 
selves in  the  residence  districts,  where  they  have  been  living 
quietly,  confining  their  operations  to  down-town  hotels  and  room- 
ing houses.  Others,  who  had  been  proprietors  of  brothels,  re- 
tired to  their  private  homes  and  have  continued  to  live  quietly, 
and  seemingly  with  the  same  decorum  as  other  citizens.  Still 
others  joined  women  of  their  own  type  who  had  been  living  in 
down-town  business  blocks,  or  in  flats  or  furnished  rooms  in 
the  district  on  the  dividing  line  between  business  and  residence 
neighborhoods,  and  have  there  been  plying  their  trade  singly 
or  in  pairs,  but  so  guardedly  and  with  such  clandestine  methods, 
and  under  such  surveillance  of  the  police,  as  to  make  continued 
residence  in  any  place  difficult,  and  to  render  their  operations,  in 
most  instances,  without  special  menace  either  to  the  immediate 
neighborhood  or  to  the  morals  of  the  general  public. 

6.  That  the  number  of  places  of  the  character  indicated  in 
5  is  now  larger  than  during  most  years  when  one  or  more  "Red 
Light"  districts  were  in  operation ;  such  diffusion  as  has  occurred 
being  confined,  with  few  exceptions,  to  limited  portions  of  the 
Third,  Fourth,  Fifth  and  Sixth  Wards,  leaving  the  rest  of  the 
city  practically  clear  of  the  evil. 

Segregation  Imperfect. 

But  the  natural  tendency  in  a  rapidly  growing  city  is  for 
this  traffic  to  constantly  encroach  upon  the  business  and  resi- 
dence districts.  That  this  tendency  has  been  prevalent  in  Min- 
neapolis wider  the  policy  of  segregation,  is  well  known  to  all 

72 


who  are  familiar  with  the  conditions  of  the  past  twenty  years. 
By  a  conservative  estimate,  the  average  number  of  prostitutes 
in  the  segregated  districts  during  this  period  has  never  ex- 
ceeded fifty  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  women  engaged  in 
this  traffic. 

We  repeat,  that  at  the  time  of  the  closing  of  the  Sixth  Ward 
district,  the  inmates  of  the  twenty-three  houses  constituting  that 
district  numbered  about  120.  Every  well  informed  person  knows 
that  this  number  was  but  a  small  proportion  of  all  the  prostitutes 
then  plying  their  trade  in  the  city  at  that  period.  Indeed,  noth- 
ing is  more  certain  than  that  segregation  in  Minneapolis  has  not, 
in  fact,  successfully  segregated.  Large  numbers  of  prostitutes 
have  always  operated  outside  the  prescribed  areas,  irrespective 
of  their  number  or  extent,  or  the  character  of  the  police  meth- 
ods used  to  enforce  segregation. 

Hotels  and  Rooming  Houses. 

7.  That  there  are  in  Minneapolis  numerous  hotels  and 
rooming  houses  which  make  a  specialty  of  renting  rooms  for 
immoral  purposes.  This  is  a  situation,  however,  not  at  all  pe- 
culiar to  the  period  following  the  closing  of  the  Sixth  Ward 
district,  though  the  number  is  now  somewhat  greater.  It  is  a 
matter  of  common  knowledge  that  many  such  places  have  existed 
in  Minneapolis  for  years  and  successfully  eluded  the  vigilance  of 
the  police  under  all  administrations.  As  a  factor  in  prostitution, 
the  "shady"  hotel  is  of  growing  importance  in  every  city,  with- 
out reference  to  its  policy  as  to  segregation.  The  increasing  use 
of  the  hotel  for  this  purpose  is  one  of  the  significant  latterday 
complications  of  the  social  evil  problem.  As  an  agency  for  the 
destruction  of  the  morals  of  young  girls,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
menacing  influences  in  the  community.  These  places  are  a  vici- 
ous complement  to  the  demoralizing  associations  of  the  public 
(lance  hall. 


73 


The  Public  Brothel  Eliminated. 

8.  That  there  is  an  entire  absence  of  the  open  evils  of  pros- 
titution as  exemplified  by  the  old  "Red  Light"  district  with  its 
accompaniment  of  lights,  music  and  indiscriminate  sale  of  liquor. 
There  are  no  places  known  to  your  Commission  where  prostitutes 
are  openly  entertaining  visitors.  There  is  no  common  knowledge 
of  the  location  of  such  places  of  prostitution  as  continue  to  exist 
and  admission  is  usually  difficult  except  to  accredited  patrons. 
The  acknozi'lcdged  brothel  has  ceased  to  exist  in  this  city. 

jMany  of  the  houses  contained  in  the  old  First  Street  dis- 
trict are  now  occupied  by  women  clandestinely  plying  their  trade 
of  prostitution.  These  places  carry  the  disguise  of  hotel,  or  to- 
bacco and  soft  drink  stores.  The  women  are  relatively  few  in 
number,  from  one  to  three  in  a  place.  The  inmates  operate  with 
extreme  caution,  with  no  outward  signs  of  the  character  of  the 
place,  under  constant  harrying  of  the  police  and  subject  to  fre- 
quent raids  and  fines. 

Modern  Business  Methods  in  Vice. 

9.  An  interesting  as  well  as  significant  phase  of  the  Social 
Evil  situation  in  Minneapolis  is  the  increasing  use  of  the  tele- 
phone as  an  agency  in  prostitution.  A  similar  situation  is  re- 
ported from  other  cities,  indicating  clearly  that  the  telephone  is 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  at  work  in  all  our  large  com- 
munities to  effect  a  marked  change  in  the  conditions  of  Public 
Prostitution.  To  the  broad  opportunities  of  easy  communication 
offered  by  the  telephone  is  due,  in  notable  degree,  the  passing 
of  the  popularity  of  the  old  "Red  Light"  district  and  the  grow- 
ing use  of  the  assignation  house  and  the  private  flat.  The  as- 
signation houses  keep  in  touch  with  large  numbers  of  both  men 
and  women  by  means  of  the  telephone  and  offer  convenient  op- 
portunity for  coming  together  without  publicity.  The  telephone 
furnishes  the  same  useful  medium  to  the  woman  in  the  private 
flat  or  apartment  house  to  reach  the  members  of  her  circle  of 

74 


inmates.  It  is  plain  that  this  situation  must  work  to  create 
new  conditions  in  the  Social  Evil  field,  conditions  which  will 
inevitably  operate  against  the  old  "Red  Light"  order.  In  the 
opinion  of  your  Commission  the  telephone  is  bound  to  become 
an  increasing  rather  than  diminishing  factor  in  prostitution,  with- 
out regard  to  the  city's  policy  of  segregation  or  suppression. 
Rightly  this  new  factor  must  be  given  attention  and  considera- 
tion in  reaching  a  conclusion  as  to  the  proper  policy  to  be  rec- 
ommended for  Minneapolis. 

White  Slave  Traffic. 

10.  That  your  Commission  have  been  unable  to  secure  any 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  an  organized  system  in  Minneapolis 
for  the  supplying  of  prostitutes  for  local  use,  nor  to  learn  of 
more  than  one  or  two  instances,  covering  many  years,  of  forci- 
ble detention  of  girls  for  immoral  purposes.  This  statement  does 
not  have  reference  to  the  quite  common  practice  of  exercising 
duress  on  inmates  of  the  "Red  Light"  district  by  keeping  them 
in  debt.  The  recent  cases  in  the  district  court  suggesting  a 
"White  Slave  Traffic"  involved  the  furnishing  of  girls  to  brothels 
outside  of  Minneapolis,  and  bore  no  relation  to  the  local  prob- 
lem of  prostitution. 

Saloon  Restaurants. 

IL  While  women  have  been  generally  excluded  from  sa- 
loons, there  are  several  so-called  cafes  in  the  city  whose  opera- 
tions are  so  flagrantly  opposed  to  good  public  morals  as  to  sug- 
gest strongly  the  necessity  for  official  action.  These  places,  os- 
tensibly restaurants,  cater  almost  exclusively  to  the  "wet  goods" 
trade.  In  practice  they  provide  rendezvous  for  large  numbers 
of  prostitutes  and  their  partners.  In  some  cases  music  is  fur- 
nished as  an  additional  attraction.  These  places  are  rapidly 
transforming  a  respectable  retail  business  street  into  a  tender- 
loin district. 

75 


Venereal  Diseases. 

12.  Tlie  sub-committcc  of  your  Commission  has  made  con- 
siderable inquiry  among'  drugg"ists  and  physicians  to  determine 
what,  if  any,  effect  has  been  observed  to  follow  the  closing  of 
the  Sixth  Ward  district  as  regards  the  spread  of  venereal  dis- 
eases. Out  of  twenty-five  druggists  seen,  representing  every  sec- 
tion of  the  city,  only  two  reported  doing  an  increased  business 
in  remedies  and  prescriptions  of  this  class,  and  those  two  are 
relatively  small  dealers.  The  others  report  uniformly  that  there 
has  been  no  increase  in  this  line  of  business,  and  some  of  the 
larger  establishments  report  an  actual  decrease.  The  testimony 
of  the  physicians  heard  from  is  conflicting.  It  is  significant,  how- 
ever, that  those  making  a  specialty  of  this  kind  of  ailments  and 
therefore  in  a  better  position  to  know  the  actual  situation,  re- 
port no  increase  since  the  closing  of  the  Sixth  Ward  district. 

Young  Girls  on  Our  Streets. 

13.  One  of  the  most  disturbing  phases  of  the  present  situ- 
ation in  Minneapolis,  and  an  alarming  social  symptom,  is  the 
large  number  of  young  girls  in  the  streets  at  night  in  the  down- 
town sections,  and  in  the  business  districts  of  the  outlying  sec- 
tions. They  may  be  found  in  numbers  loitering  about  the  fruit 
stores,  drug  stores  and  other  popular  locations,  haunting  hotel 
lobbies,  crowding  into  the  dance  halls,  the  theaters  and  other 
amusement  resorts ;  also  in  the  saloon  restaurants  and  the  chop 
suey  places  and  parading  the  streets  and  touring  about  in  auto- 
mobiles with  men. 

It  would  not  be  fair  to  charge  that  all  or  a  large  proportion 
of  these  girls  are  prostitutes.  It  is  perfectly  plain,  however,  that 
many  of  those  who  are  not,  are  on  the  direct  road.  Neither  is 
it  fair  to  connect  this  situation  with  the  closing  of  the  Sixth  Ward 
resorts,  although  there  are  those  who  have  deep  convictions  that 
there  is  a  direct  connection.  St.  Paul  has  the  same  problem ;  so 
have  other  cities  where  vice  segregation  is,  and  has  always  been, 

76 


the  established  policy.  Nor  is  the  situation  wholly  peculiar  to  the 
present  time,  but  rather  a  steady  development  of  conditions  first 
observable  several  years  back.  The  source  of  the  supply  of 
these  girls,  their  character  and  their  presence  on  the  streets  in 
such  large  numbers,  offer  interesting  and  important  fields  for 
exhaustive  study  and  observation. 

The  situation  is  unmistakeably  sinister,  and  the  responsi- 
bility rests  upon  the  community  to  make  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion, determine  the  facts,  sound  a  warning,  and  suggest  practical 
remedies.  Many  inquiries  among  those  in  position  to  have  an 
intelligent  opinion  on  the  subject,  develop  a  comparatively  unani- 
mous sentiment  as  to  the  causes  of  this  distressing  situation. 

Lack  of  Home  Discipline. 

The  growing  looseness  of  discipline  in  the  home,  a  certain 
measure  of  independence  of  the  authority  of  parents,  due  to  the 
fact  that  so  many  young  girls  are  today  wage  earners,  the  en- 
ticements of  the  public  dance  hall  and  the  cheap  theater,  the  lure 
of  the  automobile,  and  finally  the  contagious  love  of  diversion 
and  excitement  that  seemingly  possesses  all  elements  of  society 
in  our  cities  today,  are  separately,  or  in  combination,  ascribed 
as  the  chief  reasons.  The  influx  of  a  new  type  of  foreign  ele- 
ment in  our  cities,  of  late  years,  undoubtedly  has  something  to 
do  with  creating  this  situation.  This  element  has,  without  ques- 
tion, tended  to  lower  the  social  and  moral  standards  of  the  com- 
munity. 

The  seriousness  of  the  situation  is  suggested  by  facts  shown 
in  a  census  made  by  the  police  on  the  evening  of  June  7th,  of 
the  young  girls  on  the  streets  of  the  various  business  sections 
of  the  city.  This  census  shows,  that  there  were  observed  on 
the  streets  that  evening,  after  ten  o'clock,  girls,  apparently  min- 
ors and  without  adult  escort,  to  the  number  of  1,646. 


n 


The  Public  Dance  Hall. 

Your  Couiniission  have  not  pursued  this  subject  to  the  point 
where  they  feel  that  they  can  locate  the  trouble  accurately  or 
place  tiie  responsibility.  We  are  prepared,  however,  to  state  our 
conviction  that  among;  tlie  causes  mentioned  above,  the  public 
dance  hall  is  a  conspicuous  factor.  The  public  dance  hall,  your 
Commission  believe,  and  speak  advisedly,  is  one  of  the  most 
demoralizing^  social  influences  present  in  the  modern  city,  direct- 
ly or  indirectly  leading:  to  the  downfall  of  more  girls  than  any 
other  one  agency.  While  outwardly  decorous,  these  places, 
through  their  broad  opportunities  for  the  mingling  of  the  sexes 
without  adequate  discrimination  as  to  age  and  character,  and 
without  home  or  neighborhood  surveillance,  constitute  a  most 
dangerous  menace  to  the  social  welfare. 

More  drastic  police  regulations  and  surveillance  might  effect 
some  improvement  in  conditions ;  but  your  Commission  believe 
that  the  real  remedy  is  not  here.  The  development  of  neighbor- 
hood social  centers,  using  the  school  houses,  churches  and  other 
public  buildings,  with  the  parents  showing  an  active  co-operat- 
ing interest,  we  believe  to  be  the  most  practical  step  toward  bet- 
tering this  situation.  A  keener  sense  of  responsibility  for  the 
welfare  of  their  children  on  the  part  of  the  parents  is  one  of  the 
fundamental  necessities  of  today ;  that  there  is  a  growing  care- 
lessness in  this  regard  is  generallv  admitted. 


78 


VIII. 

1  ne  Enrorcement  or  La^v 


VIII. 

1  ne  Enforcement  or  La'w 

Your  Commission  have  now  almost  traversed  the  ground 
laid  out  for  them  by  the  terms  of  their  appointment.  They  have 
traced  the  handling  of  Public  Prostitution  through  successive 
administrations  in  the  history  of  Minneapolis.  That  history 
shows  that  tolerated  segregation  has  been  the  uniform  policy, 
except  under  your  Honor's  present  administration.  The  East  Side, 
First  Street,  and  finally  the  Sixth  Ward  resorts,  have  all  been 
closed  by  orders  your  Honor  has  issued.  Whatever  the  reasons 
which  have  influenced  your  decrees,  those  are  the  facts.  There 
is  no  recognized  and  tolerated  "Red  Light"  district  in  our  city. 
This  Commission  is  asked  whether  or  not  it  will  advise  your 
Honor  to  create  such  a  district.  To  this  question  we  have  given 
months  of  study  and  investigation.  We  have  considered,  in  this 
connection,  the  legalization  of  prostitution,  and  believe  for  rea- 
sons already  given,  that  such  a  course  would  be  impossible.  We 
have  faithfully  considered  the  arguments  for  toleration  and  seg- 
regation notwithstanding  the  law.  We  have  studied  the  proposi- 
tion for  medical  inspection.  We  have  gathered  the  experiences 
of  other  cities,  and  have  recorded  them  in  a  previous  section  of 
this  Report.  We  have  studied  local  conditions,  and  we  do  not 
find  them  such  as  to  warrant  us  in  suggesting  to  your  Honor 
a  return  to  the  policies  you  have  abandoned.  It  remains  to  say 
something,  therefore,  upon  the  subject  of  "Enforcing  the  Laws." 

The  Other  Side  of  Public  Opinion. 

I.  If  scgreg^ation  is  to  be  the  policy  of  our  city  then,  iiiani- 
festly,  it  must  continue  to  be  a  policy  pursued  in  violation  of  the 
existing  lazus  of  the  State  and  ordinances  of  the  City. 

No  one  believes  that,  in  the  immediate  future,  legislatures 
are  going  to  repeal  those  laws  and  substitute  others  recognizing 
and  legalizing  Public  Prostitution.     Many  of  our  correspondents 

81 


who  believe  that  this  is  tlie  logical  and  hiisiness-hke  Ihinc:  to  do, 
have  no  confidence  that  it  can  be  done.  Those  who  think  other- 
wise have  no  case  against  the  men  and  women  who  "dream"  of 
the  final  ehmination  of  Pubhc  Prostitution.  Wildest  of  all 
"visionaries"  are  those  who  think  that  the  American  people,  or 
the  inhabitants  of  Minnesota,  or  the  citizens  of  Minneapolis,  will 
ever  lec;alizc  so  hideous  and  destructive  a  traffic. 

(1)  The  laws  and  ordinances  will  not  be  changed.  If  the 
traffic  is  tolerated  it  will  continue  in  direct  violation  of  law.  Re- 
spect for  law  is  not  the  strongest  point  in  the  American  char- 
acter. Your  Commission  do  not  find  themselves  in  a  position  to 
recommend  to  your  Honor  or  to  his  police  department  a  policy 
which  compels  you  to  violate  your  official  oaths  and  set  an  ex- 
ample of  lawlessness  to  the  entire  community.  We  quote  from 
the  words  of  our  City's  legal  adviser,  Judge  Daniel  Fish : 

"Your  Commission  cannot  justifiably  advise  that  the  existing  prohibi- 
tion be  disregarded.  The  illegal  setting  apart  of  a  district  in  which  the 
law  may  openly  be  violated,  is  even  more  vicious  than  the  vice  proscribed. 
No  Vice  Commission  ought  for  a  moment  to  countenance  the  hypocrisy  of 
prohibiting  a  thing  by  law  and  permitting  it  by  policy." 

We  have  spoken  of  that  large  and  influential  body  of  citi- 
zens w^ho  favor  segregation,  in  spite  of  its  illegality,  as  the  only 
way  of  dealing  with  prostitution ;  but  on  the  other  hand  an  equal- 
ly intelligent  and  even  larger  body  of  citizens  believe  with  our 
City  Attorney,  and  have  so  expressed  themselves  to  your  Com- 
mission : 

"To  tolerate  prostitution  as  an  inevitable  violation  of  law,  to  be 
handled  by  the  police,  seems  to  me  hypocritical  and  deinoralizing  from 
every  point  of  view.  To  license  and  regulate,  and  to  that  end  to  segregate 
it,  seems  indefensible.  I  see  no  waj^  but  to  treat  this  evil  as  any  other 
evil,  and  enforce  the  law  and  ordinances  against  it." 

"I  can  think  of  nothing  more  abhorrent  to  me  than  the  legalization 
of  prostitution,  and  as  for  the  proposition  that  the  city  should  ov/n  prop- 
erty and  lease  it  for  immoral  purposes,  it  is  simply  damnable.  I  cannot 
stale  too  strongly  my  opposition  to  the  so-called  segregated  or  restricted 
district.  It  is  simply  a  clearing  house  for  all  sorts  of  crime  and  social 
disease.  A  segregated  district  is  the  best  way  I  know  of  to  promote  pros 
titution." 

82 


"I  note  what  you  say  in  regard  to  treatment  of  the  Social  Evil  in  this 
city.  I  am  in  favor  of  enforcing  the  laws  and  ordinances  against  it,  and 
do  not  believe  it  good  policy  to  give  this  or  any  other  crime  against 
society  the  protection  of  law." 

"The  first  proposition  you  name  (law  enforcement)  is  the  only  one 
in  my  opinion  worthy  of  consideration.  It  being  an  unmitigated  evil  every 
lawful  means  should  be  employed  to  stamp  it  out ;  and  the  attempt  to 
legalize,  or  recognize  would  be  demoralizing  to  the  whole  community  and 
especially  so  to  the  youth  thereof ;  and  I  believe  that  a  vigorous  and  con- 
tinual enforcing  of  the  present  laws  will  largely  mitigate  the  evil." 

"While  I  am  aware  that  there  is  difference  of  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject as  to  what  is  the  best  plan  to  adopt  and  what  lines  should  be  pursued, 
I  believe  in  law  enforcement." 

"Enforcement  as  suggested  in  question  one  may  not  be  possible,  but 
I  believe  the  best  citizenship  will  favor  an  honest  effort  to  demonstrate 
whether  there  is  not  vitality  enough  in  this  community  to  purge  itself 
from  this  evil.  Let  us  try  that  first,  and  if  we  fail  we  shall  at  least  have 
an  honest  effort  set  down  to  our  credit.  We  shall  at  least  be  able  to 
proceed  to  the  next  step,  in  the  possession  of  our  self-respect.  Give  us  a 
sincere  and  vigorous  effort  at  enforcement  and  clear  the  atmosphere  of 
that  issue.    The  next  step  will  not  be  clouded  by  doubt  or  uncertainty." 

Police  Discretion. 

(2)  To  leave  this  matter  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Po- 
hce  Department  to  be  handled  as  those  officers  think  best,  is 

a.  To  make  this  particular  violation  of  law  the  one  open 
and  acknowledged  exception. 

b.  To  subject  the  police  of  a  city  to  temptations  to  graft 
and  favoritism,  which  they  ought  not  to  be  called  upon  to  meet; 
temptations  to  which,  in  spite  of  the  best  of  intentions  and  re- 
solves, they  have  sometimes  succumbed.  The  history  of  police 
management,  where  law  enforcement  is  discretionary,  is  not  re- 
assuring. Our  American  cities  are  rapidly  awakening  to  this 
fact. 

c.  To  leave  the  city  without  any  settled  policy  upon  the 
very  gravest  question  of  the  time.  Changing  administrations 
change  the  treatment  of  Public  Prostitution  in  utter  disregard 
of  existing  statutes.     No  wiser  words  have  come  to  us  in  this 

83 


whole  investif^ation  than  the  following  from  the  letter  of  Judge 
Fish  referred  to  above : 

"On  one  phase  of  the  matter,  however,  I  have  a  fixed  opinion ;  I 
do  not  favor  placing  in  the  hands  of  administrative  or  police  officers  the 
power  to  say  when  or  where  any  criminal  statute  shall  or  shall  not  be 
enforced.  Either  the  first  (Enforcement)  or  the  third  (Legalization)  of 
the  alternatives  suggested,  should  prevail.  The  plan  of  changing  the 
operative  law  of  a  city  by  changing  mayors  or  by  changing  the  mind  of  a 
mayor  as  his  inclinations  or  interests  may  prompt,  is  extremely  demoraliz- 
ing, and  in  conflict  with  the  avowed  principle  that  ours  is  a  government 
of  law  and  not  of  men." 

Your  Commission  believe  that  this  principle  is  not  only 
sound  and  just,  but  that  it  lies  at  the  basis  of  our  most  cherished 
institutions.  It  is  the  principle  of  stability  and  continuity,  in  the 
midst  of  all  changes.  When  that  principle  is  set  aside,  all  things 
are  adrift. 

Business  Interests. 

2.  A  segregated  district  is  no  longer  regarded  as  necessary 
to  "business."  The  suppression  of  Public  Vice  does  not  "drive 
business  away." 

This  is  today  the  almost  unvarying  testimony  of  leading 
business  men.  In  order  to  get  their  sentiment,  the  following  in- 
quiry framed  for  this  specific  purpose,  was  sent  out: 

"One  of  the  points  urged  upon  us  is  that  the  interests  of  business 
require  a  segregated  and  protected  district  in  our  city  for  Public  Prosti- 
tution. We  very  much  wish  to  know  whether  you  coincide  in  this  view. 
If  so,  is  it  business  in  general,  or  some  particular  lines  of  business  for 
which  this  claim  is  made?  In  what  way  does  public  prostitution  help 
business?     Or,  which  specific  lines  of  business  does  it  help?" 

With  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  idea  that  the  institution  of 
Public  Prostitution  is  a  business  necessity,  was  utterly,  almost 
indignantly,  repudiated.  One  of  our  correspondents,  however, 
says:  "I  do  believe  that  if  segregation  should  take  place,  it 
would  have  a  tendency  to  benefit  business  in  general.  A  reason- 
ably liberal  administration  of  the  affairs  of  a  city  will  at  all  times 
be  beneficial  to  the  business  interests  of  a  community." 

84 


(1)  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  dozens  of  letters  Uke  the 
following,  whatever  our  correspondents  may  think  about  the 
policy  of  segregation  itself: 

"I  do  not  believe  that  such  houses  are  of  any  particular  benefit  to  any 
line  of  business,  more  than  other  individuals  living  in  a  city.  These 
people  buy  their  wants  where  they  wish,  the  same  as  other  persons  do." 

"So  far  as  any  bearing  which  public  prostitution  might  have  on  busi- 
ness, in  my  judgment  it  should  have  absolutely  no  bearing.  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  question  of  whether  a  district  is  maintained  or  not  should 
have  the  slightest  influence  upon  business.  When  a  business  community 
or  any  part  of  the  community  depends  for  its  volume  of  business  upon 
a  traffic  of  that  kind,  the  business  should  be  allowed  to  suffer,  and  if  neces- 
sary become  bankrupt." 

"Will  say  that  I  believe  that  it  is  untrue  in  every  particular  that  legit- 
imate business,  either  in  general  or  particular,  is  aided  by  a  segregated  or 
protected  district  in  which  the  social  evil  is  permitted  to  exist." 

"Replying  to  the  suggestion,  that  has  been  made  to  your  Commission, 
that  business  requires  a  protected  vice  district:  there  is  nothing  to  this 
suggestion.  The  better  class,  at  least,  of  country  business  men  would  be 
insulted  by  a  proposal  or  intimation  that  they  desired  such  a  place  to  visit 
when  visiting  the  City." 

(2)  With  equal  unanimity  do  business  men  declare  that 
the  morals  of  a  city  are  its  prime  consideration. 

"The  interests  of  business  should  not  be  considered  for  a  moment  in 
dealing  with  this  question.  It  is  inconceivable  to  me  that  any  reputable 
business  man  should  raise  this  point.  The  interests  of  legitimate  business 
are  wrapped  up  in  the  general  uplift  of  our  standards,  the  protection  of  our 
homes  and  our  young  men  and  women." 

These  extracts  will  sufficiently  indicate  the  position  of  the 
business  men  of  Minneapolis,  and  here  we  may  wisely  leave  this 
phase  of  the  subject. 

Finding  a  Location. 

3.  Another  objection  to  segregation,  or  rather  an  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  it,  is  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  location  upon  which 
there  would  be  general  agreement. 

85 


Your  Coiiimission  liave  asked  the  citizens  for  suggestions 
upon  this  point.  Opinions  vary.  One  says  "it  should  be  centrally 
located  and  carefully  policed,  and  the  Red  Light  district 
recently  vacated  is  perhaps  as  good  as  any  other."  Another : 
"I  believe  that  Nicollet  Island  is  the  proper  place  for  segregat- 
ing this  evil,  and  that  the  property  should  be  private  property." 
Another:  "Near  the  railroad  tracks  or  tiie  river  well  up  the 
river  bank  near  the  workhouse,  would  be  an  ideal  location." 
Still  another :  "We  say,  by  all  means,  find  a  location  such  as 
we  had  before  on  Second  Street  South.  It  will  be  much  better 
and  you  will  find  it  will  save  the  city  a  lot  of  trouble  and  ex- 
pense, and  will  be  satisfactory  to  nine-tenths  of  the  citizens  of 
Minneapolis."  Another  says:  "Main  Street  seems  to  me  best, 
as  there  are  houses  on  only  one  side  of  the  street."  Yet  another : 
''Locate  on  Nicollet  Island  under  City  ownership."  Still  another : 
"If  segregation  were  decided  upon,  and  it  were  left  to  me  to 
choose  the  location,  I'd  put  it  in  one  of  the  best  combination  resi- 
dence and  business  districts,  and  keep  it  as  much  as  possible  re- 
moved from  the  class  who  have  no  safeguards,  such  as  homes 
and  churches."  Finally,  "While  it  might  be  desirable  for  the 
city  to  own  tlie  property,  I  fear  that  the  voters  of  this  city  zvould 
not  permit  anything  of  the  kind." 

(1)  This  last  statement  is  undoubtedly  true.  Nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  the  city  will  never  own  property  to  be 
used  for  purposes  of  prostitution.  Even  those  who  favor  legal- 
izing and  segregating  the  evil,  shrink  from  this  form  of  Munici- 
pal Ownership.  They  say  it  makes  the  city  a  partner  in  crime 
and  shame.  On  what  grounds  they  justify  individual  owners  of 
property  in  becoming  partners  with  shame  and  crime  is  not  ap- 
parent. But  the  city  zvill  never  own  such  property.  So  much  is 
settled. 

(2)  It  is  equally  settled  that  the  "Red  Light"  district  will 
not  he  again  located  in  the  Sixth  Ward.  The  people  there  will 
not  have  it,  and  there  is  no  power  that  can  force  it  upon  them. 

86 


Hundreds  of  residents  of  that  ward  are  on  record  as  protest- 
ing against  its  re-establishnient.  Your  Commission  cannot,  in 
justice,  even  suggest  that  this  abomination  be  put  back.  We 
would  be  quite  as  justifiable  in  recommending  that  it  be  quar- 
tered on  Park  Avenue  or  Lowry  Hill  or  at  Lake  Harriet.  It 
will  be  time  enough  to  characterize  the  people  of  the  Sixth 
Ward  as  narrow  and  selfish,  and  unmindful  of  the  city  as  a 
whole,  when  other  localities  shall  cheerfully  make  place  for  seg- 
regation of  brothels. 

No  One  Wants  Segregation  in  His  Own  Neighborhood. 

(3)  While  there  is  no  consensus  of  opinion  among  our  cor- 
respondents on  this  point,  this  significant  fact  develops :  No  one 
zi'ants  the  brothel  in  Jiis  oivn  neighborhood;  for  that  he  is  not  to 
blame.  Every  one  who  favors  segregation  wants  it  in  the  other 
man's  neighborhood;  for  this  he  is  to  blame.  Every  person  wants 
the  law  enforced  in  that  section  of  the  city  in  which  he  lives,  but 
many  are  willing  that  violation  of  the  law  shall  be  tolerated  else- 
where. W^e  have  still  to  learn  that  the  moral  interests  of  a  com- 
munity are  one. 

One  of  the  strongest  advocates  of  segregation  writes : 

"I  think  I  make  it  plain  that  I  would  favor  the  third  proposition  stated 
in  your  letter ;  but  if  the  segregation  plan  went  through  I  would  not  have 
the  nerve  to  suggest  the  site,  because  if  it  were  in  the  inmiediate  neighbor- 
hood of  my  house,  I  would  resort  to  an  injunction  to  restrain  the  project 
as  a  nuisance ;  and  I  assume  that  everyone  else  would  feel  the  same  way."' 

When  we  come  to  the  last  analysis,  no  one  wants  such  a  dis- 
trict anywhere  in  his  vicinity.  The  business  centers  do  not  want 
it;  the  residence  districts  object.  May  we  not  some  day  discover 
that  the  toleration,  or  even  the  existence,  of  a  plague-spot  so 
repugnant  to  us  all,  is  not  a  necessity  but  a  nuisance,  and  a  nui- 
sance that  may  be  suppressed  if  all  will  unite  in  doing  for  the 
entire  city  zvhat  each  proposes  to  do  for  his  ozvn  particular  sec- 
tion?    With  the  rapid  growth  of  cities  we  have  not  yet  really 

87 


leariKxl  liow  to  live  toi^cllicr  so  as  to  share  the  common  life  aiul 
the  common  responsibilities.  May  not  this  be  the  time  and  the 
occasion  to  emphasize  in  .Minnoaiiolis  the  true  lesson  of  Co- 
operative Citizenship? 

Segregation  Does  Not  Segregate. 

4.  A  fourth  consideration  is  that  segregation  does  not  seg- 
regate.   It  does  not  accomplish  the  object  sought. 

Your  Commission  have  most  earnestly  considered  this  ques- 
tion. ]\Iost  of  those  who  favor  sec:;reg;ation  assume  that  if  a 
certain  district  is  set  apart  for  this  purpose,  prostitution  can  be 
confined  to  that  district ;  in  other  words,  that  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  say  "segregate,"  and  it  is  done.  The  facts  show  that 
this  is  not  the  case.  Segregation  has  never  gathered  within  its 
precincts  more  than  a  fraction  of  the  whole  number  of  prostitutes 
in  a  given  community ;  and  it  is  at  least  an  open  question 
whether  it  has  not  rather  aggravated  than  relieved  the  situation 
outside. 

( 1 )  Your  Commission  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  youi 
Honor  to  the  significance  of  the  section  on  the  "Experiences  and 
Methods  of  Other  Cities."  The  special  committee  of  investiga- 
tion that  your  Commission  sent  to  Des  Moines,  found  that  segre- 
gation, under  the  old  system,  only  partially  segregated;  that 
from  one-quarter  to  one-third  of  the  public  prostitutes  in  the 
city  were  living  and  operating  outside  of  the  district.  In  Cleve- 
land and  Toledo,  our  sub-committee  found  that,  in  spite  of  the 
segregated  quarters,  there  were  many  assignation  houses  in  oper- 
ation, and  a  large  number  of  women  of  shady  reputation  scat- 
tered through  the  city  in  flats  and  other  places.  It  is  significant 
that  in  both  the  above  cities  there  is  a  strong  tendency  toward 
ultimate  elimination  of  the  "Red  Light"  district.  Cleveland  has 
in  a  few  years'  time  reduced  the  number  of  houses  from  365  to 
60.  The  Toledo  police  department  will  this  year  abolish  all  the 
houses  in  one  of  the  two  segregated  districts,  leaving  but  one 

88 


juch  district  remaining.  Milwaukee  shows  no  increase  in  the 
Mumber  for  years,  despite  the  rapid  growth  of  population  in  that 

:ity.     In  all  these  cities  the  business  is  carried  on  in  dilapidated 

louses  rapidly  going  to  ruin,  and  presenting  a  very  unattractive 
;ippearance  without  and  thoroughly  unsanitary  within.     The  sit- 

jation  is  quite  similar  in  Chicago  and  some  other  cities,  showing 
unmistakably  the  waning  poDularity  of  a  segregated  district  with 
the  sporting  public.  In  our  own  city,  as  the  historical  sketch 
will  show,  the  tendency  is  and  has  been  the  same.  Every  one  who 
knows  anything  at  all  about  the  matter,  knows  that  prostitution 
cannot  be  corralled  within  a  certain  definite  reservation.  The 
public  brothel  and  the  segregated  district  are  doomed,  and  your 
Commission  cannot  recommend  the  rehabilitation  of  a  waning  in- 
dustry of  that  description. 

A  similar  tendency  is  noted  abroad.  We  have  already  noted 
the  difference  between  the  European  system  and  what  is  under- 
stood by  segregation  in  this  country.  The  tendency  there  as 
here  is  for  prostitution  to  spread  beyond  its  assigned  limits, 
whether  these  be  the  licensed  house  or  the  tolerated  district. 
Havelock  Ellis,  in  his  monumental  work  on  this  general  subject, 
in  the  edition  of  1910,  surveying  the  entire  field,  concludes : 

"Thus  it  comes  about  that  brothels  which  once  contained  nearly  all 
the  women  who  made  it  a  business  (Prostitution)  now  contain  only  a 
decreasing  minority.  The  decay  of  brothels,  whether  as  cause  and  effect, 
has  been  associated  with  a  vast  increase  of  prostitution  outside  brothels." 
(Vol.  VI,  p.  303.) 

"Even  the  most  ardent  advocates  of  the  registration  of  prostitution 
recognize  that,  not  only  is  the  tendency  of  civilization  opposed  rather 
than  favorable  to  the  system,  but  that  in  the  numerous  countries  where 
the  system  persists,  registered  prostitutes  are  losing  ground  in  the  struggle 
against  clandestine  prostitutes.  Even  in  France,  the  classic  land  of  the 
police-controlled  prostitutes,  the  Maisons  de  tolerance  have  long  been  stead- 
ily decreasing  in  number,  by  no  means  because  prostitution  is  decreasing, 
but  because  low  class  brasseries  and  small  cafcs-ckantanis,  which  are 
really  unlicensed  brothels,  are  taking  their  place."     (p.  252.) 

In  Japan,  where  segregation  exists  more  as  we  understand 
segregation,  and  where  it  is  rigidly  enforced,  under  state  regu- 
lation, it  is  still  impossible  to  make  the  segregation  complete.    A 

89 


recent  I'Vench  writer  upon  the  subject  says:  "Though  prostitii- 
tion  is  rep-ilated  HI<e  the  j)ostal  or  telegraph  service,  there  is 
also  much  clandestine  prostitution."  (La  Prostitution  an  Japo  i, 
1906.    Mati^^noH.) 

(2)  The  existence  of  such  a  section  in  a  city  does  not  rcj- 
strain  and  check  vice;  rather  it  sanctions,  encourages,  and  prop;  - 
gates  vice. 

"The  assembling  under  one  roof,"  says  Dr.  Josiah  Strong, 
"a  group  of  depraved  women,  means  a  still  farther  increase  of 
their  depravity.  The  creation  of  a  propertied  class  which  legiti- 
mately shows  the  profits  of  vice,  is  itself  demoralizing.  It  means 
the  recognition  of  pecuniary  interests  in  the  fall  of  women.  In 
no  country  have  brothels  existed  without  the  rise  of  individuals 
who  made  seduction  a  profession.  It  is  a  serious  question  ivheth- 
cr  the  house  of  ill-fame  situated  in  a  respectable  locality  and 
compelled  to  preserve  an  outivard  air  of  decency,  is  as  dangerous 
to  the  comnuinity  at  large,  as  a  similar  establishment  surrounded 
by  others  of  like  character,  and  hence  not  under  compulsion  to 
refrain  from  flagrant  devices  for  increasing  patronage." 

The  segregated  district  is  likened  by  one  of  our  legal  corres- 
pondents to  a  boil  which  gathers  to  a  head  the  impurities  of  the 
blood  and  protects  the  rest  of  the  body  from  disease.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  Commission,  however,  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  boil 
is  not  to  be  cultivated  and  cherished  with  pious  enthusiasm  as  a 
permanent  feature  of  the  human  anatomy ;  but  that  it  is  some- 
thing to  be  gotten  rid  of  as  quickly  as  possible,  with  all  its  ac- 
cumulated impurities,  leaving  the  body  in  better  shape  for  its 
disappearance.  To  change  the  analogy,  such  a  district  is  a  cancer 
poisoning  every  drop  of  blood  and  sending  the  virus  to  the  very 
extremities.  As  an  illustration,  we  refer  your  Honor  to  our 
report  from  Cincinnati. 


90 


Not  a  Safeguard. 

5.  We  are  sometimes  told  that  such  an  area  of  segregation 
is  necessary  to  protect  the  pure  women  and  girls  in  a  community ; 
that  otherwise  there  zvoiild  be  nothing  to  stand  between  them  and 
the  constant  danger  of  indecent  assault. 

Some  of  the  older  philosophers,  such  as  Mandeville  and 
Lecky,  held  that  Public  Prostitution  was,  therefore,  a  benevolent 
institution.  If  this  is  the  case,  we  see  no  reason  why  it  should 
be  either  limited  or  suppressed.  A  philanthropic  institution 
should  be  supported,  if  need  be,  by  public  subscription.  One 
would  think,  too,  that  the  proper  location  for  such  a  guardian  of 
virtue  would  be  near  the  homes  it  is  supposed  to  protect.  They 
should  be  safer  under  its  very  shadow.  But  the  argument  ii 
simply  preposterous,  whatever  great  names  may  have  been  itb 
sponsors  in  the  past,  whatever  men  of  intelligence  may  hold  it 
today.  The  claim  that  brothels,  by  affording  to  the  vicious  a  ready 
vent  for  their  passions,  are  safeguards  for  the  innocent,  is  con- 
trary to  experience.  It  is  an  insult  to  such  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion as  we  have  already  reached  to  say  there  are  men  enough  in 
any  city,  in  our  own  city  for  example,  whose  passions  are  so 
violent  and  uncurbed  that,  but  for  the  existence  of  a  recognized 
area  of  Public  Prostitution,  they  would  ravage  and  destroy  till 
they  became  a  public  menace.  Your  Commission  do  not  find  the 
evidence  to  convince  them  that  this  is  the  case.  Such  acts  of  vio- 
lence are  sporadic  and  infrequent ;  and  when  they  do  occur  take 
place  under  any  form  of  administration.  It  is  true  that  Minneap- 
olis is  the  natural  gateway  of  the  Northwest  and  the  rendezvous 
for  the  labor  of  all  this  great  country.  Here  gather  the  men  that 
fill  the  railroad  construction  camps,  that  harvest  the  grain  crops 
in  season,  that  supply  the  lumber  camps.  It  is  affirmed  that  this 
situation  alone  demands  the  return  to  the  segregated  policy.  The 
experience  of  the  past  year  does  not  sustain  this  view.  There  have 
been  no  more  acts  of  violence  than  usual  during  this  period, 
traceable   to   men   of   this   class.      Their   conduct   has   been   no 

91 


more  disorderly  than  befi)re.  Atliniiiistrations  do  not  make  the 
difference.  When  a  nature  is  so  thoroughly  depraved  that  its 
impulses  transcend  control,  the  question  of  sej^regation  or  the 
opposite,  does  not  enter  into  the  case.  Besides,  there  are  effective 
methods  of  dealing  with  the  human  wild  beast,  as  well  as  with  sav- 
age animals.  An  instance  or  two  of  violence  to  children  have 
been  cited  to  your  Commission  as  an  illustration  of  what  is  bound 
to  occur  under  your  Honor's  present  policy.  It  is  within  the 
memory  of  members  of  this  Commission  that  under  one  of  the  most 
"wide  open"  administrations  in  our  history,  a  time  when  the  num- 
ber of  brothels  had  reached  its  maximum,  the  perpetrator  of  a  simi- 
lar crime  expiated  his  offense  upon  a  tree  that  then  stood  near 
the  Central  High  School.  Your  Commission  do  not  recommend 
this  method  but  the  example  is  instructive. 

Complicates  Police  Problems. 

6.  A  segregated  district  complicates,  rather  than  simplifies, 
this  problem  for  the  police. 

Under  segregation  the  police  have  not  only  to  exercise  con- 
stant surveillance  among  the  "houses,"  but  they  have  to  watch  the 
outlying  districts  as  well,  where  suppression  is  supposed  to  pre- 
vail. They  thus  have  the  problems  of  segregation  and  of  sup- 
pression both.  Abolish  the  segregated  districts,  and  the  task  is 
one  and  the  same  everywhere,  that  of  enforcing  the  laws.  And 
if  it  be  objected,  that  the  present  police  force  is  not  adequate, 
we  reply  that  this  Commission  would  favor  its  increase  to  the 
full  measure  of  adequacy.  We  do  not  expect  impossibilities ;  but 
with  every  new  demand  upon  our  police  administration,  we 
would  advocate  the  supplying  of  new  resources.  It  is  a  matter 
of  profound  interest,  to  which  we  have  already  called  your 
Honor's  attention,  that  the  police  authorities  of  two  of  the  cities 
visited  by  our  sub-committee,  which  included  your  Honor's  secre- 
tary, when  they  learned  that  the  last  remaining  "Red  Light"  dis- 
trict had  been  abolished  in  Minneapolis,  strongly  advised  against 
creating  another. 

92 


"One  of  the  most  striking  incidents  in  the  case  of  the 
Toledo  investigation  was  the  question  of  Chief  of  Pohce  Knapp 
to  your  sub-committee  after  learning  of  the  present  conditions  in 
MinneapoHs :  'if  you  have  no  "Red  Light"  district  in  your  city 
why  do  you  create  one  ?' 

"Chief  Kohler,  of  Cleveland,  made  the  same  suggestion  to 
your  sub-committee  in  connection  with  the  Minneapolis  situa- 
tion, when  he  declared  that  if  Minneapolis  had  no  'Red  Light' 
district  at  this  time,  it  should  not  change  the  situation  by  creat- 
ing one.    'If  without  such  a  district  now,  do  not  establish  one.'  " 

Both  gentlemen  explained  that  the  systems  in  their  cities 
were  an  inheritance  of  frontier  days ;  that  an  actual  condition 
existed  and  they  could  not  apply  any  drastic  remedy  at  once ;  that 
the  situation  must  work  itself  out  gradually.  In  Minneapolis, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  situation  had  settled  itself. 

Danger  of  the  White  Slave  Traffic. 

7.  The  public  House  of  Prostitution,  in  the  known  and  rec- 
ognised segregated  district,  is  the  central  market  of  the  White 
Slave  Traffic. 

Let  us  state  the  case:  A  segregated  district  is  maintained 
for  the  purpose  of  Public  Prostitution.  The  inmates,  as  a  rule, 
can  not  stand  the  life  there  for  more  than  a  few  years.  Many 
die.  Others  become  undesirable,  for  various  reasons,  and  are 
thrown  upon  the  streets  or  take  up  the  business  in  a  clandestine 
way.  Some,  let  us  hope^  reform.  In  one  way  or  another  in- 
roads are  made  upon  the  population  of  these  "Resorts,"  and  there 
are  constantly  places  to  supply.  How  is  this  done?  Many  wom- 
en and  girls  go  into  these  places  from  choice  and  others  from 
financial  stress ;  but  in  the  strong  language  of  General  Theodore 
A.  Bingham,  Ex-police  Commissioner  of  New  York  City: 

"It  is  easy  to  prove  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  must  be  forced 
or  enticed  into  the  life.  If  women,  in  large  numbers,  were  willing  to 
become  prostitutes,  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  have  such  enormous  ma- 
chinery   (as   that   of  the  white   slave  trafific)    to   recruit   the   ranks.     The 

93 


cadot  himself  would  he  unnecessary.  Rut  so  unwilling  arc  women  to  de- 
h.ise  themselves,  that  the  cadet,  the  dance  hall,  the  Raines  law  hotel, 
false  marriages,  drink  and  even  force  arc  necessary  to  keep  the  hideous 
thing  flourishing." 

While  your  Coniniission,  as  before  stated,  have  no  evidence 
at  present  of  the  W'hite  Slave  Traffic  in  IMinneapolis,  it  is  abso- 
lutely certain  that,  with  the  continuance  of  the  seg-re£:^ated  districts 
that  traffic  will  come.  If  those  districts  are  re-established  and 
fostered,  the  i^rowth  of  the  city  will  unquestionably  necessitate 
this  source  of  supply.  We  shall  go  the  ways  of  vice  that  older 
cities  have  gone.  We  shall  have  the  same  conditions  here  as 
those  from  which  the  administrator  of  law  and  the  philanthropist 
alike,  are  trying  to  redeem  those  cities.  Let  us  learn  from  the 
past  and  not  be  unmindful  of  the  future. 

The  evidence  seems  only  too  clear  that  there  is  a  "white 
slave"  traffic  is  this  country  to  an  extent  of  which  the  general 
public  has  small  idea,  and  that  the  traffic  is  virtually  and  very 
practically  organized,  though  not  technically  so.  It  is  the  acting 
together  of  groups  of  vile  men  whose  interests  to  aid  and  pro- 
tect one  another  are  very  great,  which  is  the  real  evil.  In  New 
York  City,  2,000  men  and  boys  are  said  to  be  devoted  to  the  vile 
business.  In  Chicago,  there  are  considered  to  be  at  least  half 
as  many  and  so  in  other  cities.  Nearly  every  city  is  infested  with 
its  agents,  and  everywhere  these  connect  themselves  with  cor- 
rupt ward  politicians  and  more  secretly  with  men  "higher  up," 
who  give  them  police  protection  or  immunity  in  exchange  for 
votes. 

The  business  of  Public  Prostitution  has  become  commercial- 
ized, and  the  brothel  is  the  recognized  center  of  the  abhorrent 
commerce. 

"The  analysis  of  the  laws,  which  is  fully  substantiated  by  the  pre- 
vailing conditions  under  these  laws,  shows  that  prostitution  is  no  longer 
the  simple  process  of  a  man  seeking  a  woman  in  a  place  kept  for  such  a 
purpose,  or  that  only  men  looking  for  such  places  or  women  who  wish 
to  live  in  them,  are  to  be  found  there.  The  defense  of  prostitution  is 
based  on  this  belief,  which  is  totally  erroneous.  This  form  of  prostitution 
exists  merely  as  the  center  of  an-  elaborate  system  which  has  been  fostered 
by  business  interests  rather  than  as  a  consequence  of  emotional  demand. 

94 


The  laws  show  clearly  the  existing  complicated  order  of  commercialized 
vice."  {"The  Social  Evil  in  New  York  City,  1910."  Committee  of  Four- 
teen.) 

It  is  high  time  that  those  who  are  interested  in  a  "business" 
way,  through  renting  or  leasing  property,  or  in  any  other  man- 
ner, should  begin  to  realize  what  they  are  doing.  They  are  mak- 
ing this  traffic  possible ;  and  are  helping  to  call  into  existence 
that  vast  army  of  professional  seducers,  to  characterize  whom 
there  is  no  word  sufficiently  infamous  in  the  language, — who 
war  against  women's  virtue,  whose  one  business  in  life  it  is  to 
destroy  that  virtue.  When  will  property-owners  begin  to  realize 
in  what  disgraceful  partnership  they  are  involved?  It  is  this 
Satanic  host  of  pimps  and  panderers  that  constitute  the  real  menace 
to  society.    It  is  segregation  that  creates  their  business. 

Source  of  Disease. 

8.  The  Public  House  of  Prostitution  is  the  source  of  most 
of  the  loathsome  venereal  disease  which  afflicts  society. 

This  statement  is  true,  in  spite  of  the  attempt  at  medical 
supervision  and  inspection.  Your  Commission  have  devoted  an- 
other section  to  the  consideration  of  the  Medical  aspect  of  the 
subject;  and  to  that  we  refer  your  Honor.  We  pause  here,  how- 
ever, to  remark  that  there  is  reason  to  doubt  the  statement  that 
the  clandestine  prostitute  is  more  dangerous  than  the  public 
one.  The  good  organization  of  the  brothel  is  often  extolled, 
and  the  theory  is  made  much  of  that  the  keepers  of  those  places 
are  interested  in  voluntarily  subjecting  the  inmates  to  inspec- 
tion ;  but  there  is  this  difference :  the  private  prostitute  may  re- 
ceive only  one  client  in  an  evening,  at  the  most  a  limited  number ; 
but  the  inmate  of  a  brothel  is  forced  to  receive  as  many  as  present 
themselves,  often  an  indiscriminate  horde  of  customers.  Thus  the 
dangers  of  receiving  and  communicating  disease  are  vastly  in- 
creased. In  the  presence  of  such  conditions,  Medical  supervision 
stands  practically  helpless.     The  public  house  of  Prostitution  is 

95 


still  the  principal   l\nnUaiii  of  that   tOul  stream  of  disease  which 
taints  men,  wrecks  women,  and  enqulfs  children. 

These  are  the  considerations  which  your  Commission  pre- 
sent in  favor  of  enforcing;-  the  laws  aj^^ainst  Social  Vice.  We 
have  tried  to  deal  justly  and  fairly  by  those  who  hold  opposite 
views;  we  could  do  no  less  on  behalf  of  those  who  believe  in  a 
p^overnment  by  law,  and  not  by  official  caprice  or  private  inter- 
est.    Among  these  latter,  your  Commission  desire  to  be  enrolled. 


96 


IX. 

Conditions,  General  ana  Local, 
Favorable  to    Law    Enrorcement 


IX. 

Conditions,  General  and  Local,  Favorable  to 
La"w  Enrorcement 

We  wish  to  reinforce  the  recommendation  of  the  policy  we 
are  about  to  propose,  by  some  general  considerations  which  have 
a  bearing  upon  the  subject.  Your  Commission  cannot  ignore 
the  fact  that  just  at  this  time  there  is  a  new  spirit  abroad  in  the 
land,  and  particularly  in  our  cities,  so  different  from  former  in- 
difference and  assumed  helplessness,  that  it  is  called  a  "Civic 
Awakening!"  It  shows  itself  in  a  new  social,  political  and  eco- 
nomic outlook;  in  an  enlightened  appreciation  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  citizenship. 

It  is  working  to  both  practical  and  ethical  ends,  among  other 
ways  manifesting  itself  in  a  determination  (1)  to  be  rid  of  politi- 
cal bossism  and  graft,  (2)  to  eliminate  partisan  politics  and  the 
waste  and  inefficiency  that  have  characterized  city  administra- 
tions the  country  over,  (3)  to  make  cities  better  places  to  live  in 
by  beautifying  and  cleaning  them  up,  (4)  to  establish  social  cen- 
ters and  to  see  that  the  children  have  better  playground  and  recre- 
ation facilities,  (5)  to  abolish  slums  and  plague  spots,  (6)  to 
curb  the  dangerous  and  criminal  elements  and  to  give  decent  peo- 
ple a  better  chance  to  live  and  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  citizen- 
ship. 

Cities  used  to  reckon  by  the  census  and  to  estimate  their 
greatness  by  the  market  standard ;  nov;  they  are  beginning  to 
weigh  as  well  as  count,  and  to  consider  the  playground  as  essential 
as  the  stockyards.  They  are  beginning  to  realize  that  a  city  is 
to  be  judged  by  its  human  product  as  well  as  by  its  bank  clear- 
ings. 


99 


The  New  Spirit  Versus  the  "Red  Light"  Districts. 

Among:  cities  that  have  felt  this  awakening,  are  some  in 
wliich  the  new  spirit  is  shown  in  cleaning  up  the  "Red  Light" 
districts.  Surely  the  temper  of  the  times  is  favorable.  The  pres- 
ence of  such  districts  make  possible  much  political  corruption 
and  police  mal-administration  and  graft ,  and  is  so  intimately  as- 
sociated with  all  kinds  of  civic  disorder  and  lawlessness,  that  it 
would  seem  that  the  new  spirit  must  insist  upon  their  removal. 
Surely,  when  so  many  other  evils  are  being  faced  and  conquered, 
it  is  no  time  for  pessimism.  It  is  no  answer  to  those  who  are 
fighting  bossism  and  graft  and  social  disorder  to  say  that  "these 
things  have  always  been"  and  that  "human  nature  never 
changes ;"  they  know  that  many  things  which  have  been  need  not 
be,  and  that  in  the  processes  of  evolution  human  nature  has  never 
done  anything  but  change, — and  in  the  main  for  the  better. 
Even  while  the  last  lines  of  this  Report  are  being  written  the  fol- 
lowing letter  comes  to  us  from  Hon.  James  P.  English,  of  Omaha, 
County  Attorney : 

"I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  June  28th  relative  to  houses  of  pros- 
titution in  this  city.  Omaha  has  maintained  a  district  for  thirty  years  or 
more,  to  my  knowledge.  The  legislature  at  its  last  session  passed  a  law 
known  as  the  Albert's  Law,  which  declares  all  houses  of  lewdness,  assigna- 
tion or  prostitution  nuisances  and  provides  for  their  abatement  by  way  of 
injunction  in  an  equity  proceeding.  The  law  has  some  drastic  features, 
including  the  closing  up  of  the  house  for  one  year  and  the  assessment  of 
a  tax  of  $300  against  the  property. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  commenced  about  a  half  dozen  of  these  cases,  in- 
volving some  of  the  most  prominent  establishments,  which  resulted  in 
closing  up  practically  the  entire  district.  The  residents  have  gone  else- 
where, some  left  town  and  others  are  scattered  throughout  the  city.  We 
expect  to  prosecute  any  case  outside  of  the  district  called  to  our  attention, 
although  up  to  date  I  have  heard  but  little  complaint  from  other  sections  of 
the  city." 

Local  Sentiment. 

Your  Commission  find  that,  upon  this  subject  as  well  as 
others,  our  own  city  shares  the  general  awakening.  To  many 
of  our  citizens  the  case  for  the  enforcement  of  law  seems  hopeful. 

100  I 


One  of  our  correspondents  has  written. 

"I  do  not  concede  and  I  think  it  is  untrue  that  it  is  a  necessary  evil 
and  should  be  tolerated,  that  it  cannot  be  prevented  and  should  be  regu- 
lated. The  nature  and  the  results  of  the  offence  are  too  serious  to  admit 
any  such  position.  That  we  cannot  wholly  prevent  it,  is  no  excuse  for  not 
using  our  greatest  endeavors  to  prevent  what  we  can,  just  as  we  do  other 
crimes." 

A  leading  lawyer  writes  : 

"A  vigorous,  persistent,  unremitting  enforcement  of  the  law  and  the 
prosecution  of  every  known  violation  is,  I  think  the  only  policy  which  the 
Commission  should  advocate." 

Another  says : 

"I  prefer  the  first  method  sugggested,  to  wit;  enforcing  the  laws  and 
ordinances  against.     It  is  the  most  practical  of  the  three." 

The  manager  of  one  of  the  leading  hotels,  writes  : 

"I  note  what  you  say  in  relation  to  the  administrative  methods  of  deal- 
ing with  public  prostitution  and  I  wish  to  say,  by  all  means,  I  think  num- 
ber one,  meaning  the  enforcing  of  laws  and  ordinances  against  it,  is  the 
only  one  that  will  do  away  with  it  and  certainly  that  is  what  should  be 
done.  It  would  occur  to  me  that  it  would  be  degenerating  to  think  of 
licensing  such  institutions  in  our  city." 

From  one  in  a  responsible  position  in  connection  with  public 
schools  comes  the  word: 

"I  favor  the  first  proposition.  While  I  do  not  believe  that  this  will 
eradicate  or  eliminate  the  evil,  I  think  it  can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum 
under  this  plan.  Either  of  the  other  propositions  would  tend  to  en- 
courage it,  giving  it  the  sanction  of  law  and  protection.  Eternal  vigilance 
is  the  price  of  virtue." 

These  correspondents  are  not  fanatics,  nor  are  they  even  min- 
isters. While  your  Commission  asked  the  clergy  for  an  expres- 
sion of  opinion  and  value  such  expression  most  highly,  none  of 
their  replies  have  been  quoted.  We  would  not  eliminate  the  moral 
and  religious  elements  from  the  problem;  we  could  not,  if  we 
would;  but  we  have  wished  so  far  as  possible  to  let  the  wisdom 
of  what  are  called  "practical  men  of  affairs,"  speak. 

Some  New  Forces. 

The  attitude  of  the  public  towards  Prostitution  is  changing. 
Toleration  is  no  longer  so  popular  as  formerly.  Certain  specific, 
as  well  as  general  movements,  have  contributed  to  this  change. 

101 


1.  The  rcz'claiions  of  I  he  White  Slave  Traffic  have  aroused 
public  indignation  against  tlie  ii'hole  business  of  Prostitution, 
which  has  called  that  traffic  into  exislcnce. 

Tlic  public  have  begun  to  rcaHzc  how  vice  has  become  com- 
incrciaHzed  ;  how  iiuHviduals  and  syndicates  are  pushing  it  for  the 
sake  of  profit ;  how  every  means  is  used  to  stimulate  the  passions 
and  provide  for  their  lawless  gratification.  The  matter  is  one 
which  has  not  been  allowed  to  take  its  own  course.  There  have 
not  been  found  women  enough  to  go  readily  into  Public  Prostitu- 
tion, nor  men  enough  to  go  out  of  their  way  to  seek  the  public 
houses,  to  make  the  business  pay.  Supply  and  demand  have  been 
created  by  artificial  methods.  Mr,  James  B.  Reynolds,  of  New 
York,  who  was  appointed  special  commissioner  by  President 
Roosevelt,  to  investigate  the  international  traffic,  says : 

"It  is  a  traffic  with  local,  interstate,  international  and  national  rami- 
fications. It  has  the  complete  outfit  of  a  large  business :  large  capital,  rep- 
resentatives in  various  countries,  well  paid  agents,  and  able  high  salaried 
lawyers.  Its  victims  are  numbered  yearly  by  the  thousands.  They  include 
not  only  the  peasant  girls  of  European  villages  but  also  farmer's  daughters 
of  our  own  country.  Some  are  uneducated  and  wholly  ignorant ;  others 
have  enjoyed  good  education.  While  most  of  them  come  from  homes  of 
poverty,  occasionally  a  child  of  well-to-do  parents  is  numbered  among 
the  victims.  The  alert  agents  of  the  traffic  move  from  place  to  place,  en- 
trapping innocent  victims  at  railway  stations  and  public  resorts.  Not  a 
few  girls  who  go  to  the  cities  to  seek  their  fortunes  and  fail  are  caught 
by  these  harpies.  And  remember,  I  am  alluding  now  not  to  those  who 
go  astray  because  of  incidental  misfortunes,  circumstances,  conditions,  or 
blind  trust  in  some  unworthy  lover ;  but  only  to  those  who  are  entrapped 
by  the  agents  of  the  organized  White  Slave  Traffic  system." 

On  May  18,  1904,  a  treaty  was  signed  between  the  leading 
countries  of  Europe,  for  the  repression  of  the  White  Slave  Traf- 
fic. This  treaty  was  presented  to  our  government,  and  after  care- 
ful consideration,  its  ratification  was  advised  by  the  senate  and 
proclaimed  by  the  President,  June  15,  1908.  This  appears  to  be 
the  first  treaty  relating  to  social  morality  consummated  between 
the  leading  civilized  nations  of  the  world.  All  this  is  significant, 
it  means  that  there  is  now  gathering  behind  those  who  are  trying 
'to  clear  their  cities  of  public  plagues  and  nuisances,  a  vast  body 
of  aroused  public  sentiment. 

102 


2.  The  ravages  of  Venereal  Diseases  upon  the  innocent  and 
guilty  alike  have  become  so  great,  that  tlie  medical  profession  are 
earnestly  at  work  spreading  sanitary  and  hygienic  knozvledge,  to 
stay  the  destruction. 

They  are  doing  a  noble  work  in  the  education  of  the  public, 
and  upon  whatever  details  they  may  yet  differ  they  are  breaking 
with  many  of  the  traditions  of  the  past.  They  are  dispelling  the 
glamor  that,  in  the  minds  of  many,  surrounded  a  life  of  vicious 
indulgence.  They  are  teaching  young  men  that  venereal  disease 
is  almost  inseparable  from  a  career  of  vice  and  entails  ill-health, 
which  often  comes  on  its  victim  years  after  the  follies  of  youth 
are  past.  They  are  correcting  the  tradition  that  gonorrhoea  is  a 
trivial  affair,  easily  cured  and  leaving  no  permanent  results. 
They  are  also  correcting  that  other  tradition  that  sexual  indul- 
gence is  necessary  to  the  young  man's  physical  health,  a  vicious 
theory  which  has  impelled  thousands  to  the  first  step  in  a  career  of 
licentious  indulgence.  It  is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent, 
in  the  light  of  medical  science,  that  there  is  no  physical  reason, 
as  there  is  no  moral  one,  for  maintaining  two  standards  as  regards 
chastity,  one  for  men  and  the  other  for  women.  The  same  virtue 
"is  needed  in  both  sexes  for  the  happy  development  of  that  family 
life  on  which  the  security  of  the  race  and  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion depend."  The  moral  of  the  medical  science  of  today  is  that 
"the  promotion  of  masculine  chastity  will  be  the  most  powerful 
means  of  checking  prostitution." 

3.  There  is  also  a  movement  becoming  more  and  more  gen- 
eral for  the  education  of  children  in  the  knowledge  essential  for 
their  protection;  and  there  is  zvidespread  activity  along  other  pre- 
ventive lines. 

The  policy  of  prevention,  which  is  becoming  more  strongly 
emphasized  every  year,  must  inevitably  reduce  not  only  the  num- 
ber of  prostitutes  and  their  patrons,  but  will  tend  to  eliminate  all 
other  forms  of  Social  Vice, — those  illicit  sexual  practices  in  which 
public  prostitutes  play  no  part,  and  which  constitute  such  impor- 
tant elements  in  the  entire  problem. 

103 


The  signs  of  the  times  are  auspicious.  There  will  be  greater 
encouragement  for  those  who  believe  that  laws  should  be  en- 
forcetl,  and  for  those  who  make  the  brave  and  honest  effort  to  en- 
force them.  And  while  your  Commission  are  convinced  that  a 
policy  of  suppression  will  do  much  to  relieve  the  community  of 
the  most  open  and  aggressive  features  of  Public  Prostitution,  the 
Social  Conscience  will  make  itself  felt  upon  some  of  the  causative 
factors ;  for  back  of  so  much  of  this  great  and  startling  evil  are 
certain  wide-spread  ideals  of  life  and  certain  social  and  economic 
conditions  that  make  easy  for  multitudes  the  descent  into  this  In- 
ferno. 

Some  of  them  are  these:  (1)  an  intrenched  spirit  of  mate- 
rialism, marking  our  present-day  civilization,  which  sets  posses- 
sions above  the  noble  life;  (2)  congestion  of  population,  which 
throws  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  into  close  living  con- 
tact for  which  they  may  not  be  fitted;  (3)  overwork  and  exploita- 
tion of  women  toilers,  in  particulai ,  which  devitalize  and  weaken 
the  physical  defences  of  chastity ;  (4)  demoralizing  and  extrava- 
gant display  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  newly  and  suddenly 
rich,  creating  in  the  minds  of  the  daughters  of  the  poor  such  a 
sharp  sense  of  contrast  with  their  own  condition  as  to  lead  them 
on  to  an  "easy  way"  to  remove  the  contrast;  (5)  poverty  in  the 
family,  which  cannot  either  maintain  a  proper  American  standard 
of  living  under  which  vital  forces  are  kept  ever  fit,  or  provide  a 
home  whose  attractiveness  will  not  drive  the  tired  young  working 
people  outside  into  dangerous  places  for  that  excitement  needed 
to  restore  physical  and  mental  balance;  (6)  the  commercializa- 
tion of  recreation  provisions  in  a  city,  pandering  to  the  lower  in- 
stead of  the  normal  and  right  side  of  human  beings;  (7)  the 
faulty  bringing  up  of  children  by  parents  who  have  done  woefully 
less  than  their  part  in  developing  strength  of  body,  will  and  char- 
acter. 

These  conditions  need  not  and  will  not  always  exist.  There 
is  an  awakening  to  their  widespread  presence  and  a  determina- 
tion on  the  part  of  all  who  are  in  strategic  positions  to  co-operate 
ifi  their  removal. 

104 


X. 

Recommendations  or  the  Commission 


X. 

Recommendations  of  tke  Commission 

Your  Commission,  in  reviewing  the  field  of  their  investiga- 
tion, and  in  reaching  the  conclusions  they  are  about  to  present, 
desire  to  thank  your  Honor  for  the  absolute  freedom  from  offi- 
cial interference  or  pressure,  which  they  have  enjoyed.  The  only 
pressure  of  any  kind  to  influence  our  decision  has  been  applied 
by  former  keepers  of  houses  of  ill-fame  and  by  persons  who  have 
property  interests  in  the  districts  which  were  closed  by  your 
Honor's  orders.  It  may  be  zvell  to  state  also  that  the  conclusions 
we  have  reached  upon  the  question  of  administrative  policy  are, 
in  the  case  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  this  Commission,  en- 
tirely different  from  those  zuith  zvhich  zve  started.  The  Chairman 
himself  has  yielded  the  theory  which  he  held  upon  becoming  a 
member  of  this  Commission,  to  the  overwhelming  mass  of  evi- 
dence which  he  discovered  against  it.  We  all  endeavored  to  lay 
aside  pre-existing  prejudices  and  to  approach  the  work  with  open 
minds.  The  outcome  is  that  zve  are  a  unit  in  the  policy  zvhich  zve 
recommend.  For  the  reasons  given  in  the  body  of  this  Report, 
and  for  the  additional  reason  that  the  spirit  of  the  times  is  favor- 
able to  the  determined  and  concerted  effort  to  improve  the  moral 
as  well  as  the  material  conditions  of  cities,  we  respectfully  make 
to  your  Honor  the  following  recommendations : 

I. 

Law  Enforcement. 

Inasmuch  as  legalization  of  the  Social  Evil  is  practically  im- 
possible, and  even  if  possible  would  be  immoral ;  and  since  the 
toleration  of  a  recognized  violation  of  law  is  demoralizing  to  a 
community,  and  to  its  public  guardians,  the  police ;  and  for  the 
further  reasons  already  stated  in  previous  chapters ;  therefore 
we  recommend  to  your  Honor  the  continuance  of  that  policy  of 

107 


strict  lazi.'  enforcement  begun  i)i  ^-ipril,  jpio,  when  your  Honor's 
order  closed  the  last  "Red  Light"  district  in  the  city;  and  em- 
phasised by  the  order  of  November,  Jpio,  by  which  vicious  zvom- 
en  were  excluded  from  the  saloons.  We  are  of  the  settled  and 
unanimous  opinion  that  lazv  enforcement  ought  to  be  a  permanent 
administrative  policy  of  our  city  government,  to  the  full  extent 
of  the  resources  of  the  police  department. 

II. 

Increased  Police  Vigilance. 

Increased  vigilance  by  the  police,  under  such  a  policy  will 
undoubtedly  be  necessary. 

1.  If  experience  shows  that  the  situation  demands  additions 
to  the  force  to  make  effective  the  policy  of  law  enforcement 
against  Public  Prostitution,  they  should  be  promptly  forthcom- 
ing. We  have  elsewhere  suggested  such  increase.  We  believe 
the  Minneapolis  community  will  willingly  consent' to  additions  to 
the  department  for  this  purpose ;  and  we  incline  to  the  opinion 
that  good  results  would  be  obtained  by  the  appointment  of  a  few 
women  police  officers  with  this  as  their  special  field  of  duty. 

2.  That  the  police,  even  when  they  are  most  faithful  in  the 
suppression  of  vice,  often  encounter  the  gravest  difficulties  in  ob- 
taining legal  evidence,  should  be  remembered  by  the  public;  but, 
after  all,  the  forces  of  evil  are  timid  in  the  presence  of  an  honest 
and  determined  police  department;  and  when  it  is  known  that  a 
policy  of  tolerance  has  been  permanently  abandoned,  and  a  sys- 
tem of  suppression  definitely,  sincerely,  and  finally  determined 
upon,  the  battle  is  already  half  won. 

3.  As  an  adjunct,  however,  to  any  effective  policy  of  sup- 
pression, your  Commission  believe  there  must  be  a  well  grounded 
understanding  on  the  part  of  would-be  law-breakers  that  delib- 
erate offences  will  be  visited  with  severe  penalties.  A  fine  is  no 
deterrent  to  an  actual  or  potential  keeper  of  a  disorderly  house. 

108 


III. 

Co-operation  of  Citizens. 

It  is  the  duty  of  citizens  as  well  as  of  the  police,  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  encroachments  of  evil ;  and  a  house-holder  who 
is  afraid  to  attach  his  name  to  a  complaint  should  be  slow  to  con- 
demn the  police  if,  without  his  aid,  they  do  not  move  as  swiftly 
and  effectively  as  he  would  like.  Indeed,  your  Commission  are 
of  the  opinion  that  if  the  citizens  of  Minneapolis  desire  a  continu- 
ance of  the  present  policy  of  suppression,  and  wish  to  make  it  as 
effective  as  it  may  become,  they  should  provide  for  permanent  as- 
sistance to  the  police,  through  organised,  though  unofficial,  vigi- 
lance. The  people  of  each  community  may  combine  to  assist  the 
police  in  keeping  out  disorderly  houses.  No  one  should  claim  the 
privileges  of  citizenship  without  accepting  its  responsibilties. 

IV. 

Regulation  of  Down-Town  Hotels  and  Lodging  Houses. 

Your  Commission  have  referred,  in  their  study  of  present 
conditions,  to  the  hotel  or  lodging  house,  which  caters  to  prostitu- 
tion. Places  of  this  sort  may  be  found  in  large  numbers  on  the 
business  streets,  expecially  along  Washington  Avenue  and  in 
central  portions  of  the  city.  So  far  as  they  are  used  by  mature 
prostitutes  who  live  in  down-town  lodgings  or  residence  districts, 
and  who  resort  to  them  for  secrecy  or  convenience,  with  partners 
procured  through  the  various  devices  of  their  calling,  the  public 
need  not  be  greatly  concerned  about  them.  If  there  is  an  irre- 
ducible minimum  of  prostitution,  probably  it  could  be  carried  on 
in  no  way  less  harmful  to  the  morals  of  the  community  at  large. 
Those  who  are  damaged  by  such  places  as  public  nuisances  can 
move  against  them  effectually,  if  they  choose.  But  in  their  char- 
acter of  adjuncts  to  the  debauchery  of  children  these  places  as- 
sume an  aspect  of  the  very  gravest  importance.  To  them  are 
taken  the  young  girls,  who,  through  the  criminal  folly  of  parents, 

109 


or  their  own  waywnrilncss,  arc  exposed  at  iii,!;ht  and  without 
protection  to  the  incHscriniinate  associations  of  the  dance-hall,  the 
theater  or  i^icturc  show,  the  down-town  cafe  and  the  street;  to 
Ikem  the  child  prostitute  conducts  tlie  foolish  boy  whom  she  has 
entang^led  in  her  snare.  No  questions  are  asked ;  a  pretended  rej;;- 
ister  is  usually  presented,  "Jo'in  Smith  and  wife"  is  written  upon 
it,  and  a  room  assij^ied.  The  situation  is  too  obvious  to  deceive 
anybody ;  and  yet  such  are  the  safe,^uards  which  our  present  laws 
throw  around  the  lawbreaker  that  it  is  exceeding^ly  difificult  to 
hold  the  keeper  of  the  place  to  criminal  responsibility.  Often 
when  mere  children,  or  couples  of  whom  one  is  a  mere  child,  have 
been  taken  from  rooms  which  they  have  been  occupyins^  at  nin^ht 
in  places  of  this  sort,  prosecution  has  failed  because  the  judc^e 
could  not  be  sure  "beyond  a  reasonable  doubt"  that  the  parties 
were  not  man  and  wife,  as  the  "register"  represented. 

1.  Your  Commission  recommend  that  to  remedy  this  evil, 
steps  be  taken  commensurate  with  its  gravity.  If  it  can  be  law- 
fully done,  an  ordinance  should  be  passed  containing  the  follow- 
ing requirements,  violations  of  which  should  be  presumptive  evi- 
dence that  the  place  is  a  disorderly  house : 

(1)  No  hotel  or  lodging  house  keeper  shall  assign  a  room 
to  two  persons  of  opposite  sex  (except,  of  course,  in  case  of 
small  children  with  a  parent  or  other  custodian),  unless  they  are 
entered  as  husband  and  wife  upon  a  bona  fide  register.  Ficti- 
tious names,  will,  of  course,  be  used;  but  the  register  should  be 
an  actual  one,  used  for  all  guests,  and  correct  in  all  particulars 
which  are  within  the  control  of  the  proprietor. 

(2)  The  correct  hour  of  the  assignment  of  the  room  shall 
be  entered  upon  the  register. 

(3)  No  room  shall  be  rented  to  more  than  one  couple  be- 
tween 9  p.  m.  and  6  a.  m. 

(4)  A  room  shall  not  be  rented  to  a  couple  one  of  whom  is 
a  minor,  unless  they  have  bona  fide  baggage  or  are  vouched  for 

110 


as  husband  and  wife  by  a  reputable  resident  of  the  city,  or  unless 
permission  is  secured  from  the  police. 

The  effect  of  such  an  ordinance,  if  valid,  would  be  to  throw 
upon  the  violator  the  burden  of  exculpating  himself  from  criminal 
intent;  and  it  would  cause  the  lodging  house  business  to  be  con- 
ducted with  greater  discrimination. 

2.  Lodging  house  licenses  ought  not  to  be  authorised  by  the 
city  council  unless  the  applicant  is  of  ascertained  good  character. 
It  has  recently  been  decided  by  the  municipal  court  that  such  a 
license  can  be  withheld  at  the  discretion  of  the  city  council,  even 
when  the  sanitary  requirements  of  the  ordinance  have  been  com- 
plied with.  This  enables  the  council  to  be  of  much  service  in  clos- 
ing these  gateways  of  destruction  that  now  stand  wide  open  to 
the  children  of  the  city. 

3,  But,  in  any  event,  Your  Honor  has  the  undoubted  right 
to  revoke  at  discretion  the  license  of  the  keeper  of  a  hotel  or 
lodging  house  zvhose  methods  you  are  satisfied  are  vicious,  even 
if  the  proof  is  not  such  as  zuould  zvarrant  conviction  in  court.  We 
recommend  the  use  of  this  power  in  appropriate  cases.  The  po- 
lice, even  when  they  are  complacent  toward  some  forms  of  vice, 
will  be  vigilant  in  safeguarding  our  children ;  and  evidence  that 
will  be  convincing,  and  that  will  justly  warrant  executive  action, 
can  easily  be  obtained  against  persistent  offenders  of  this  sort. 

V. 

In  the  Interests  of  Public  Health  and  Safety. 

In  the  interest  of  public  health  and  safety  your  committee 
recommend : 

1.  There  are,  at  present,  no  hospital  facilities  for  the  treat- 
ment of  gonorrhoea!  or  acute  syphilitic  cases  in  the  city  of  Min- 
neapolis, as  neither  the  City  Hospital  nor  private  hospitals  will 
receive  them.    Your  Commission  recommend  that  such  provision 

111 


be  made  as  early  as  possible,  and  in  such  manner  and  place  as 
the  Health  Authorities  of  the  City  may  determine. 

2.  We  recommend  to  the  organized  physicians  of  the  city 
that  before  tlie  next  meeting-  of  the  state  legislature  they  carefully 
consider  the  laws  by  which  various  European  countries  and  some 
of  our  sister  states  attempt  to  prevent  the  spread  of  venereal  dis- 
eases. 

Such  laws  provide  for  physical  examination,  with  medical  certificate, 
as  a  prerequisite  to  marriage ;  for  reports  to  health  authorities,  by  the  at- 
tending physician,  of  venereal  as  well  as  other  contagious  diseases ;  for 
the  punishment  of  the  willful  or  grossly  negligent  transmission  of  these 
diseases ;  for  the  compulsory  instillation  into  the  eyes  of  every  new-born 
child  of  a  suitable  solution  for  the  prevention  of  infant  blindness,  90  per 
cent  of  which  is  caused  by  the  gonorrhoeal  germ.  The  study  of  such 
laws  and  their  operation  elsewhere  will  doubtless  suggest  some  practical 
advance  in  this  difficult  but  important  field.  Anything  less  than  the  most 
wisely  conceived  and  skillfully  constructed  legislation  upon  these  subjects 
would,  we  believe,  be  worse  than  useless. 

3.  We  further  recommend  that  the  law  be  broadened,  if 
necessary,  so  that  the  State  Board  of  Medical  Examiners  be  given 
sufficient  powers  and  funds  to  adequately  control  the  quacks  spe- 
cializing in  venereal  diseases. 

4.  Also  that  the  present  ordinances  of  the  city  in  regard  to 
the  advertising  of  cures  for  venereal  diseases  be  rigorously  en- 
forced, and  if  found  inadequate  that  they  be  so  amended  as  to 
permit  of  the  complete  suppression  of  this  great  evil. 

VI. 
Measures  of  Prevention. 

While  your  Commission  believe  in  the  enforcement  of  exist- 
ing laws,  and  in  such  modifications  of  the  laws  and  ordinances 
as  will  even  more  effectually  suppress  the  evils  of  prostitution, 
punish  law-breakers,  and  protect  the  public  health,- — they  believe 
still  more  strongly  in  the  institution  of  such  preventive  measures 
as  will  cut  off,  to  a  great  extent,  the  sources  of  the  traffic's  supply. 

112 


Such  preventive  measures  are  to  be  found  (a)  along  Edu- 
cational lines,  (b)  in  larger  Recreation  facilities,  (c)  in  better 
Economic  conditions,  and  (d)  in  certain  provision  for  institution- 
al care. 

A.      EDUCATION. 

We  call  special  attention  to  the  report  of  our  sub-committee 
on  Education  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.  It  is  the 
hope  of  your  Commission  that  this  will  be  carefully  studied.  In 
the  meantime,  your  Commission  recommend : 

1.  That  serious  attention  be  given  by  school  authorities  to 
the  question  of  closer  co-operation  between  school  and  home,  as 
a  result  of  which  there  would  develop  a  common  knowledge  and 
a  common  method  with  respect  to  the  solution  of  the  sex  prob- 
lems of  youth, 

2.  That  school  teachers  recognize  their  great  opportunity  of 
laying  persistent  emphasis  upon  the  truth  that  the  family  is  our 
greatest  institution  for  the  development  of  happy  and  wholesome 
living,  and  shape  all  instruction  towards  that  goal. 

3.  That  domestic  science,  or  preferably  home-making,  be 
given  an  increasingly  important  place  in  our  public  school  curri- 
culum. 

4.  That  in  our  public  schools  carefully  graded  sex  instruc- 
tion be  gradually  introduced  under  conditions  to  be  determined 
upon  by  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Superintendent,  and  a  Com- 
mittee of  school  principals  and  teachers. 

5.  That  in  order  that  teachers  and  social  workers  may  them- 
selves be  trained,  colleges,  normal  schools,  medical  and  theologi- 
cal institutions,  schools  of  philanthropy,  and  others, — wherever 
they  have  not  already  done  so, — place  the  subject  in  their  courses 
of  study  and  give  instruction  in  the  most  effective  methods  of 
teaching  the  same. 


113 


n.    i,argi:r  recusation  facii.ities. 

These  have  real  therapeutic  value  and  make  for  right  living. 
An  equipment  of  health,  together  with  fine  life  enthusiasm,  is 
an  equijimcnt  against  vicious  tendencies  of  all  sorts.  Our  rec- 
ommendations are  based  on  these  considerations  and  run  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  More  playgrounds  properly  distributed,  especially  in  the 
congested  parts  of  the  city,  with  sufficient  provision  for  larger 
grounds  for  open  games,  such  as  baseball  and  football. 

2.  Provision  for  high  school  athletics,  now  extremely  inade- 
quate. 

3.  Public  baths  and  comfort  stations. 

4.  Development  of  the  school  Social  Centers,  in  which  the 
School  Board  have  already  made  such  an  admirable  beginning, 
with  arrangements  for  such  forms  of  recreation  as  the  people 
in  each  school  district  may  favor. 

5.  Development,  properly  supervised,  of  the  literary  drama 
in  the  schools,  not  only  as  substitutes  for  the  objectionable  shows 
at  theaters,  but  as  important  educational  and  recreational  elements 
in  the  life  of  young  and  older  people. 

6.  As  to  theaters,  your  Commision  would  recommend  posi- 
tive censorship  of  plays  and  moving  pictures,  which  would  call 
attention  to  the  best  productions  given ;  an  ordinance  against  the 
employment  of  girls  as  ushers ;  another  providing  for  the  proper 
lighting  of  moving  picture  theaters,  and  rigorous  supervision  of 
picture  slot-machines. 

7 .  As  to  dance-halls,  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  policemen 
or  a  woman  police  officer  stationed  at  the  entrance  might  have 
a  good  effect ;  and  we  recommend  the  re-enactment  of  the  license 
ordinance  of  1908,  with  defects  which  now  make  it  invalid,  re- 
moved,— a  matter  which  should  have  the  attention  of  the  City 
Council  at  once. 

114 


8.  The  police  and  such  private  agencies  as  have  facilities 
for  so  doing,  are  urged  to  exercise  special  vigilance  to  keep 
young  children  off  the  down-town  streets  at  night,  and  to  reduce 
to  a  minimum  that  objectionable  conduct  and  rowdyism  on  the 
streets,  in  and  around  candy  stores,  poolrooms,  at  entrances  of 
theaters  and  in  the  parks,  which  easily  grows  into  license. 

9.  Enforcement  of  ordinance  against  sale  of  indecent  and 
suggestive  postal  cards  and  printed  matter  generally,  and  against 
hanging  of  indecent  and  suggestive  posters  in  stores  and  on  bill 
boards. 

C.      BETTER  ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS. 

This  Commission  knowing  that  many  employers  are  deeply 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  those  who  serve  in  their  establish- 
ments, most  earnestly  urge  upon  them  the  following: 

1.  That  employers  generally  consider  the  wage  question  as 
seriously  as  they  do,  for  example,  the  question  of  the  kind  of  ma- 
chinery or  other  appliance  needed  in  their  establishments,  bear- 
ing in  mind  that  income,  particularly  in  the  case  of  young  girls, 
has  an  important  bearing  upon  the  whole  question  of  social  vice. 

2.  That  employers  maintain  the  best  possible  sanitary  con- 
ditions and  comfort  provisions  for  employes,  especially  where 
many  young  people  are  at  work;  on  the  theory  that  anything 
which  endangers  health,  lessens  stamina  and  power  of  resistance 
to  evil. 

3.  That  in  every  establishment  where  at  least  twenty  young 
women  are  employed  a  social  secretary  be  engaged  whose  duties 
would  be  to  mingle  with  the  girls,  understand  both  their  working 
and  personal  difficulties,  and  be  of  service  both  to  them  and  to 
the  employers.    Efficiency,  health  and  morals  would  be  promoted. 

4.  That  instead  of  young  boys  and  young  girls,  men  above 
twenty-one  years  of  age  be  employed  in  the  messenger  service. 

A  brief  discussion  of  the  grounds  upon  which  these  recom- 
mendations are  based,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.  , 

lis 


D.      INSTITUTIONS  OF   PREVENTION. 

1.  Traveler's  Aid. 

This  Commission  recommend  to  the  people  of  MinneapoHs, 
the  support  and  the  provision  of  jiroper  hoiisinc^  facihties  for  the 
use  of  the  Travelers'  Aid,  which  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  Y. 
\V.  C.  A., — a  most  effective  org-anization  for  meeting  young 
women  and  girls  as  they  arrive  in  the  city  at  the  railway  station. 
Four  very  capable  women,  two  at  the  Milwaukee  station,  and 
two  at  the  Union  Station,  are  now  in  charge  of  this  commendable 
work. 

At  present  the  transient  home  conducted  by  the  W.  C.  A.,  is 
inadequate  and  the  Traveler's  Aid  is  unable  to  find  safe,  respect- 
able accommodations  in  every  instance  for  the  many  applicants 
that  are  constantly  besieging  it  for  lodging  places.  These  appli- 
cations are  principally  from  girls  just  arriving  in  MinneapoHs. 

This  Commission  advocate  that  the  work  of  this  proposed 
lodging  and  boarding  house  be  undertaken  and  carried  forward 
by  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  of  this  city  and  it  believes  that  this  extension 
work  for  young  women  can  be  accomplished,  if  given  sufficient 
financial  encouragement  by  our  generous  citizens. 

Minneapolis  contains  the  third  largest  number  of  girls  away 
from  home  of  all  the  cities  in  the  United  States,  which  is  cer- 
tainly an  additional  argument  why  this  city  should  think  seriously 
of  this  important  matter. 

2.  Detention  Home  for  Girls. 

This  Commission  would  recommend  to  the  proper  authorities 
the  careful  consideration  of  a  Detention  Home  for  girls,  similar 
to  that  which  has  been  provided  for  boys, — which  is  practically  a 
half-way  station  bet  wen  probation  and  the  training-school. 

One  of  the  members  of  this  Commission  says :  "From  my 
experience  covering  a  period  of  five  years  I  am  convinced  that 
the  great  need  today  in  carrying  on  successfully  our  Juvenile 
Court  work  is  a  place  where  we  can  send  girls  for  preservation, 
hot  reformation.  There  are  many  girls  just  on  the  verge  of  im- 
morality; they  are  rapidly  approaching  the  line  where  one  step 

116 


more  will  carry  them  across.  Some  measures  were  taken  last 
winter  towards  securing  such  a  home  as  I  believe  we  need;  and 
some  of  the  judges  are  of  the  same  opinion  as  myself  regarding 
this  projecct.  This  proposal  is  entirely  separate  and  distinct  from 
the  proposition  to  enlarge  the  Florence  Crittenton  Home,  which 
is  a  rescue  home.  It  should  be  something  very  different  and  per- 
mit of  no  possibility  of  girls  of  different  classes  commingling.  It 
should  be  supported  by  the  city  or  county  under  the  supervision 
of  the  judges  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  as  the  Boys'  Farm  Home 
(Detention  Home),  is  cared  for  at  the  present. 

VII. 

Rescue  and  Reform. 

While  your  Honor's  Commission,  in  many  of  these  recommen- 
dations, have  laid  the  emphasis  upon  Prevention,  they  would  not 
ignore  or  lightly  esteem  the  noble  institutions  that  gather  up  the 
wreckage  and  seek  to  repair  and  reform.  A  great  work  is  being 
done  by  devoted  and  heroic  souls,  in  this  direction,  and  the  com- 
munity should  understand  what  they  are  trying  to  accomplish 
and  hold  up  their  hands. 

Persons  who  have  lapsed  from  virtue,  but  who  have  not  yet 
wholly  abandoned  themselves  to  an  evil  life,  are  received  through 
the  court  or  at  the  instance  of  parents  or  friends,  at  the  Florence 
Crittenton  Home,  the  Norwegian  Home  of  Shelter,  and  the 
House  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  The  last  mentioned  institution  is 
in  St.  Paul,  but  freely  receives  girls  from  Minneapolis.  In  each 
institution  the  girls  are  placed  under  wholesome  moral  influences, 
and  given  practical  industrial  training.  In  each  the  religious  mo- 
tive is  emphasized.  The  two  latter  are  respectively  under  Luth- 
eran and  Catholic  auspices;  but  in  each,  girls  of  all  faiths  and 
none  are  received  without  discrimination.  Maternity  Hospital  and 
Bethany  Home  receive  maternity  cases.     All  of  the  institutions 

117 


named  are  doing  excellent  and  necessary  work,  and  deserve  the 
generous  support  of  the  community. 

The  hardened  women  who  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  law  as 
prostitutes  are  not  properly  provided  for.  Only  the  jails  and 
workhouses  are  open  to  them,  and  to  these  they  can  be  com- 
mitted but  for  brief  periods.  Such  treatment  is  not  corrective, 
but  rather  the  reverse.  One  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  state  is 
an  institution  where  dissolute  women  may  be  committed  under 
an  indeterminate  sentence  and  trained  by  reformatory  methods. 
Such  an  institution  would  greatly  increase  the  efficiency  of  the 
police  and  courts,  as  conservators  of  public  morals,  and  would  be 
a  most  important  factor  in  solving  the  problem  of  prostitution. 

IX. 

Permanent  Commission. 

Prof.  Seligman,  of  Columbia  College,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  in  New  York,  says: 

"The  great  trouble  with  all  our  efforts  has  been  the  lack  of 
continuity  of  effort.  The  Committee  of  Fifteen  did  what  it 
could,  but  the  community  soon  lapsed  from  the  stage  of  enthusi- 
asm and  high  moral  force;  the  flame  which  burned  so  brilliantly 
for  a  time  died  out,  and  so  it  is  with  most  of  our  efforts  at  re- 
form." He  pleaded  for  the  establishment  of  a  Permanent  Com- 
mission, wdiich  would  continue  to  "study  the  question  from  the 
medical  standpoint,  the  social  standpoint,  the  economic  stand- 
point, and  the  sociological  standpoint,  and  which  should  assist 
in  preparing  legislation,  and  help  the  administration  in  enforcing 
whatever  laws  or  ordinances  may  be  found  to  be  desirable." 

Your  Commission  beg  to  make  a  similar  suggestion. 

Whether  the  various  recommendations  in  this  report  are 
adopted  or  not,  it  will  be  desirable  for  this  city  to  have  a  perma- 
nent Morals  Commission,  which  should  be  a  recognized  civic 
organization  for  such  purpose  as  that  indicated  by  Prof.  Selig- 
man, and  zvhose  immediate  function  shall  he  to  assist  in  carrying 

118 


out  the  policy  of  suppressing  the  social  evil,  as  manifested  in  its 
various  public  forms.  The  proposed  Morals  Commission  should 
be  well  equipped  with  trustworthy  information  regarding  the 
present  conditions  of  the  Social  Evil  in  Minneapolis,  and  with 
the  necessary  power  to  act  for  the  best  interests  of  the  citizens  in 
matters  of  public  morals.  The  proposed  organization  should  bt. 
empowered  to  receive  complaints  from  citizens ;  to  investigate 
and  verify  such  complaints,  whenever  possible,  and  to  present 
them  to  the  proper  city  officers  for  adjustment. 

We  suggest  that  such  commission  shall  be  composed  of  rep- 
resentative men  and  women  who  will  work  for  the  moral  welfare 
of  the  whole  city.  This  Commission  should  be  appointed  by  his 
Honor,  the  Mayor,  and  be  authorized  to  add  to  its  own  member- 
ship and  to  fill  vacancies  as  necessity  demands.  The  proposed 
Commission  should  have  the  fullest  co-operation  of  the  Mayor 
and  his  Police  Department,  and  be  furnished  with  suflticient  funds 
to  carry  forward  its  work. 

Conclusion. 

And  now,  your  Honor,  the  large  and  exacting  task  of  your 
Commission  is  at  an  end.  That  the  work  is  imperfect,  no  one 
can  more  fully  realize  than  the  members  of  this  body  themselves. 
We  believe,  however,  that  the  main  position,  Enforcement  of  Law 
Against  Public  Prostitution,  is  unassailable.  The  Report  will  be 
criticized,  and  we  shall  be  glad  of  all  criticism  that  is  not  merely 
captious  or  that  does  not  bear  the  suspicion  of  a  financial  in- 
terest in  the  policy  of  segregation.  The  materials  upon  which 
the  Report  is  based,  including  our  records  of  the  "Under  World," 
will  be  held  a  while  for  reference  in  case  of  necessity  and  for  our 
own  protection.  It  was  thought  that  they  would  more  fittingly 
adorn  a  safety  deposit  box  than  the  document  which  we  submit 
to  your  Honor  and  to  the  public.  We  hope  and  believe  that 
your  Honor  and  the  citizens  of  Minneapolis  will  not  only  read  our 
conclusions  but  also  our  reasons. 

119 


.ppendix 


Appendix 

Report  of  Committee  on  Education. 

We  have  given  careful  study  to  the  "Social  Evil"  problem,  paying 
particular  attention  to  the  prevalence  and  results  of  Venereal  Disease. 
Our  object  has  been  to  know  the  truth  regarding  this  heinous  crime  against 
society.  Our  investigations  have  not  been  confined  to  local  conditions 
especially,  but  along  general  lines. 

We  have  spared  no  pains  in  our  investigations  of  the  local  conditions 
as  to  the  prevalence  of  loose  morals  on  the  part  of  too  many  young  people, 
giving  special  attention  to  the  various  contributing  causes  and  the  results 
which  follow. 

With  these  truths  before  us  we  find  occasion  for  our  recommenda- 
tions along  educational  lines. 

1.  We  find  that  people  are  somewhat  skeptical  as  to  the  wisdom  of 
inaugurating  a  general  educational  movement  along  the  line  of  Sex- 
Hygiene.  We  hear  repeatedly  that  there  is  no  occasion  for  alarm.  "We 
are  not  prepared  to  say  that  we  want  this  subject  made,  prominent  in  our 
homes  and  institutions  of  learning.  On  what  do  you  base  your  belief 
that  Sex-Hygiene  should  be  given  a  place  in  our  public  and  private  school 
courses?  Why  should  parents  be  expected  to  make  a  special  point  of 
instructing  their  children  in  Sex  matters?  Why  should  churches  and 
various  other  societies  be  urged  to  recognize  this     important  subject?" 

2.  In  conversation  with  a  large  number  of  intelligent  and  well-mean- 
ing people — fathers  and  mothers,  educators,  ministers,  business  men  and 
women, — we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  people  in  general  are  not  informed 
as  to  the  truth  which,  if  known,  would  awaken  general  interest  on  the 
educational  phase  of  this  question.  Many  admit  that  they  have  not  so 
much  as  read  a  single  book  or  pamphlet  or  heard  a  lecture  or  talk  on  this 
subject. 

We  believe  that  all  that  is  necessary  to  gain  the  approval  of  the  general 
public  for  scientific  and  systematic  instruction  in  Sex-Hygiene  in  our 
private  and  public  schools  is  for  people  to  become  informed  as  to  the  perils 
which  have  their  origin  in  "The  Social  Evil."  In  recommending  any  gener- 
al educational  policy  or  specific  line  of  instruction  in  this  connection  we 
deem  it  necessarj'  that  the  public  should  know  such  facts  and  figures  re- 
lating to  the  subject  as  will  awaken  a  wholesome  public  sentiment  as  to 
the  methods  of  dealing  with  the  problgm.  It  is  truthfully  said  that  "the 
social  forces  are  apathetic  and  inactive;  that  society  does  not  seek  to  de- 
liver itself  from  this  evil ;  that  its  only  preoccupation  is  to  cover  up  and 
conceal."  We  believe  the  time  has  come  for  a  more  liberal  attitude  as  to 
publicity  and  discussion. 

4.  We  would  most  diligently  guard  against  placing  undue  emphasis  on 
evil  in  our  midst.  We  believe  the  largest  returns  will  result  from  plac- 
ing all  emphasis  on  the  true  ideals  and  correct  standards  of  living.  We 
would  make  prominent  all  those  attributes  which  make  for  clean,  strong 

123 


bodies,  clear  thinking,  wholesome  recreation,  and  moral  excellence.  While 
vice  is  ever  Hanntini?  itself  before  society,  yet,  over  against  this  is  the 
good  which  the  intelligent  and  conscientious  instructor  can  give  instead  of 
the  evil  which  is  imparted  by  the  ignorant  companion. 

Dr.  Eliot,  President  Emeritus  of  Harvard  College,  has  recently  said : 
"In  order  to  make  head  against  the  horrible  evils  which  accompany  men's 
profligacy  and  woman's  prostitution,  and  to  prevent  the  moral  and  physi- 
cal disasters  which  result  from  the  young  men's  and  young  women's  ignor- 
ance about  the  natural  processes  of  reproduction  in  the  human  species 
and  about  the  laws  of  health  in  these  processes,  it  is  indespensable  that 
systematic  instruction  should  be  given  to  all  young  children  and  young 
people  in  the  processes  of  reproduction  and  growth  in  plants,  and  animals, 
in  the  general  rules  of  hygiene,  the  natural,  wholesome  processes  of  repro- 
duction in  the  human  species,  and  at  last  in  the  diseases  and  social  dis- 
orders which  follow  violations  of  nature's  laws  concerning  the  relations  of 
the  sexes." 

SPECIFIC  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

In  planning  a  course  in  sex  education  the  following  points  must 
always  be  kept  in  mind. 

I.  The  subject  must  be  taught  as  intimately  and  obviously  related  to 
other  subjects  in  the  curriculum,  that  is,  natural  history,  biology,  etc.  To 
detach  the  subject  of  sex  and  teach  it  to  young  children  as  an  unrelated 
course  is  not  only  illogical  and  unscientific  but  it  is  to  give  it  undue 
prominence  in  the  childish  mind. 

II.  Instruction  must  be  begun  in  the  earliest  grades  as  a  part  of 
nature  work  and  carried  through  the  entire  school  period,  its  complexity 
increasing  with  the  growing  demands  of  the  child.  The  child  should  be 
encouraged  to  ask  questions  and  make  its  own  observations.  It  naturally 
follows  that  the  teaching  should  be  accompanied  by  no  more  sentiment  or 
vagueness  than  any  other  natural  history  subject. 

III.  With  the  same  end  in  view  at  an  early  age  a  systematic  attempt 
should  be  made  to  inculcate  within  the  child  a  great  respect  for  beauty 
and  potential  possibilities  of  the  human  body,  the  profound  importance  of 
habits  both  physical  and  psi'chological  and  the  necessity  for  a  clean,  well 
developed  body  for  efficient  manhood  and  womanhood. 

By  the  time  the  child  attains  puberty  he  should  have  a  clear  general 
knowledge  of  the  plan  of  reproduction  gained  almost  wholly  from  his  study 
of  comparative  anatomy  in  an  evolutionary  form,  from  the  lowest  unicellu- 
lar type  to  the  complex  vertebrates.  He  should  also  have  gained  by  this 
time  a  good  working  vocabulary. 

Up  to  this  time  it  would  seem  most  natural  that  this  subject  should 
be  taught  by  the  class  teacher.  Through  her  knowledge  of  the  children  she 
should  be  able  to  distinguish  the  most  precocious  and  by  the  aid  of  the 
hiedical  inspector,  or  better  the  parents,  give  to  these  the  special  instruc- 
tion they  demand.     She  should  also  be  able  to  distinguish  those  children 

124 


who  by  reason  of  heredity  or  environment  form  a  species  of  degenerates, 
one  of  whom  may  exert  a  most  demoralizing  influence  upon  the  sex 
education  of  an  entire  class  room.  This  ability  would  obviously  necessi- 
tate very  careful  training  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Such  training 
should  therefore  be  an  essential  part  of  every  normal  school  and  univer- 
sity. 

IV.  At  puberty  special  care  should  be  given  to  the  peculiar  nervous 
and  mental  phenomena  of  this  period.  The  co-operation  of  the  medical  in- 
spector is  here  most  important.  Parents  should  be  especially  warned  of  the 
significance  and  dangers  of  this  most  important  phase  of  all  life. 

At  this  time  a  course  of  citizenship  should  be  inaugurated  and  an 
attempt  should  be  made  to  develop  an  acute  sense  of  the  social  and  race 
consciousness,  with  the  idea  of  preparing  the  child  for  an  understanding 
of  the  sociological  significance  of  sex. 

V.  Throughout  adolescence  the  youth  is  particularly  sensitive  to 
psychical  and  idealistic  appeal.  In  this  season  during  high  school  the  study 
of  eugenics  and  heredity  should  be  introduced,  special  stress  being  laid 
upon  the  responsibility  of  the  present  generation  for  the  next,  the  rights 
of  the  unborn.  The  relation  of  sex  to  all  great  creative  art  such  as  paint- 
ing, music,  and  poetry  should  also  be  made  clear. 

At  the  same  time  the  youth  is  old  enough  now,  in  the  latter  half  of 
his  high  school  course,  to  assimilate  a  more  technical  study  of  the  physi- 
ology of  reproduction,  the  dangers  of  precocity  along  these  lines,  of  mas- 
turbation and  venereal  diseases.  To  the  girls  should  be  given  a  thorough 
course  in  the  physiology  and  hygiene  of  menstruation.  All  this  advanced 
instruction  would  gain  authority  and  dignity  if  given  by  well  trained  men 
and  women  of  the  medical  profession. 

No  attempt,  however  intelligent,  to  deal  with  the  sex  education  of 
children  can  hope  to  meet  with  the  desired  results  unless  the  parents  will 
co-operate  with  the  schools.  To  convince  the  parent  of  the  necessity  of 
such  instruction  every  means  should  be  taken  to  arouse  them  to  the  ex- 
isting conditions.  To  this  end  appropriate  lectures  and  demonstrations 
should  be  given  them  through  the  school  centers,  through  parents  associa- 
tions and  through  women's  clubs,  where  appropriate  literature  may  also 
be  distributed. 

All  parents  are  recommended  to  read  and  study  Wedekind's  "Awak- 
ening of  Spring,"  a  drama  which  has  literally  forced  sex  education  into 
most  of  the  schools  in  Germany. 


125 


The  Young  Girl  in  Industry. 
Committee  on  Economics. 

Tlic  economic  aspects  of  the  Social  Evil  offer  an  interesting  and  a 
most  necessary  field  for  investigation.  It  is  not  enough  to  study  and  report 
upon  tlic  situation  with  respect  to  results  in  ruined  and  hroUcn  womanhood 
and  debauched  manhood.  Equally  and  more  important  is  it  to  get  at 
tlie  underlying  causes  of  the  entrance  of  women  into  the  ranks  of  prostitu- 
tion and  seek  means  to  stop  the  source  of  suppply.  No  recommendations 
as  to  remedies  can  be  of  much  value  except  as  they  are  based  upon  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  facts  in  this  regard. 

Vour  Commission,  with  the  burden  of  other  lines  of  work  put  upon 
it  in  the  course  of  this  investigation,  has  been  unable  to  give  the  time  and 
thought  to  this  phase  of  the  subject  which  its  importance  demands,  and  is 
not  prepared  to  report  fully  at  this  time.  We  commend  this  phase  of  the 
subject  as  one  worthy  of  searching  investigation  by  the  proposed  per- 
manent Morals  Commission.  Your  present  Commission,  however,  have 
made  sufficient  inquiry  to  get  at  least  a  suggestion  of  the  truth  of  the  situa- 
tion. 

One  does  not  need  to  go  far  along  this  line  of  research  to  reach  the 
conviction  that  one  of  the  first  factors  in  -tracing  the  sources  of  suppply, 
is  the  increasingly  large  influx  of  very  young  and  immature  girls  into 
industry.  This  is  a  situation  that  offers  especially  favorable  opportunities 
for  the  breeding  of  conditions  leading  to  the  blasting  of  the  lives  of  many 
young  girls.  The  chances  for  the  careless  making  of  promiscuous  male 
acquaintances,  the  close  association  of  the  sexes  in  employment,  the  neces- 
sary contact  with  the  general  public,  the  new  and  distorted  view  of  life 
which  such  an  environment  compels,  taken  with  the  low  wage  scale  pre- 
vailing in  so  many  callings  and  affecting  so  many  individuals,  combine  to 
create  a  situation  that  must  inevitably  weaken  the  moral  stamina  and 
lead  to  the  undoing  of  m.any.  The  fault  plainly  is  not  so  much  in  the 
individual ;  it  is  rather  the  results  of  the  industrial  system.  The  remedy 
lies  in  large  part  in  the  reforming  of  the  system. 

Your  Commission  is  inclined  to  give  the  low  wage  scale  some  emphasis 
in  this  connection ;  for  low  wages  undoubtedly  increase  the  menace  to 
good  morals,  as  well  as  constituting  an  economic  injustice  which  should  be 
remedied. 

The  girl  living  at  home,  or  for  any  other  reason  only  in  part  depend- 
ent upon  her  earnings  for  support,  must  be  held  in  some  degree  responsible 
for  this  unfortunate  condition.  In  many  cases,  entering  industrial  life  from 
choice  and  not  from  necessity — for  the  change  it  offers,  or  the  chance  to 
sec  life  from  what  is  supposed  to  be  a  broader  point  of  view,  or  to  secure 
a  measure  of  relief  from  home  routine  or  independence  from  home  re- 
straints— she  is  in  a  position  to  give  her  services  for  a  consideration  some- 
what below  a  fair  living  wage.  While  in  many  individual  cases  perhaps 
commendable  in  purpose,  the  entrance  of  this  element  into  industry,  so  far 
as  it  tends  to  lower  the  rate  of  wages  for  a  class,  works  a  great  injustice 
upon  the  girls  who  are  dependent  wholly  upon  their  earnings  for  their 
stibsistence,  and  has  the  effect  of  encouraging  in  many  a  recourse  to 
immoral  means  to  piece  out  the  inadequate  wage. 

126 


While  we  have  no  intention  or  desire  to  reflect  upon  employers  who 
deal  justly  and  honorably  with  their  help,  it  is  unforunate  that  there  are 
others  who  give  preference  to  this  class  of  girl  labor,  apparently  for  no 
other  reason  than  the  desire  to  get  service  on  the  cheapest  possible  terms. 
It  can  not  be  pretended  that  such  employers  are  ignorant  of  the  effect  of 
such  a   policy. 

Your  Commission  desire  to  make  it  plain  that  they  are  not  indescrim- 
inately  indicting  the  system  that  encourages  the  employment  of  women  in 
industry  nor  reflecting  upon  their  morals  as  a  class.  Women  have  their 
useful  and  necessary  place  in  the  conduct  of  business ;  and  under  proper 
restrictions  as  to  age  and  conditions  and  environment  of  employment  they 
do  not  constitute  a  dangerous  menace  to  morals.  No  more  appreciative 
word  has  been  spoken  in  behalf  of  this  class  than  is  contained  in  the  1910 
report  of  the  Women's  Department  of  the  Minnesota  Bureau  of  Labor : 

"The  life  is  one  of  sordid  drudgery,  but  still  they  do  live,  the  majority 
of  them,  upright,  honest  lives.  There  is  no  slander  so  cruel  as  that  which 
assumes  that  working  women  as  a  class  are  immoral.  The  temptations  are 
greater,  the  pressure  from  hunger,  from  ambition,  from  love  of  dress, 
from  almost  every  side  of  life,  bears  more  heavily  upon  women  workers, 
but  it  is  unjust,  it  is  untrue,  to  say  that  the  girl  or  woman  when  she  has 
attained  such  years  of  maturity  as  will  permit  her  to  obtain  a  true  view 
of  life,  is  as  a  rule  an  immoral  woman." 

But  with  the  }'oung,  the  immature,  the  girl  wholly  inexperienced  in 
the  practical  world,  the  report  deals  very  differently: 

"To  say  that  youth  falls  an  easy  prey  to  the  vicious,  the  depraved,  the 
debased,  is  to  state  that  which  all  experience  has  sadly  taught  us.  How 
much  more  easily  under  circumstances  like  these  is  sadly  apparent.  The 
happy-heartedness  of  the  child-woman,  her  trustfulness,  her  innocence,  her 
daring,  fall  an  easy  victim  to  the  skillful  wiles  of  those  who  would  take 
advantage  of  her  inexperience.  The  testimony  of  those  who  have  charge 
of  the  refuges  for  these  most  miserable  victims,  tell  us  that  seventeen 
years  and  two  months  is  the  average  age  at  which  maternity  comes  to 
those  to  whom  it  is  a  shame  rather  than  a  glory.  To  permit  this  class — 
the  girl  16,  17  and  even  18^— to  go  out  into  the  world  away  from  her  home, 
away  from  the  protecting  care  of  her  parents  and  friends,  is  not  only  a 
crime  against  her,  it  is  a  crime  against  society." 

It  is  the  latter  class,  for  whom  the  report  pleads  so  eloquently,  that  your 
Commission  have  in  mind.  Is  it  fair  that  girls  should  be  put  under  such 
stress  and  temptation  at  an  age  when  they  are  peculiarly  susceptible  to 
the  influence  of  their  surroundings  and  so  much  in  need  of  the  training 
and  protection  of  the  home  and  parent?  And  is  not  society  itself,  vvhen 
it  permits  such  a  situation  to  continue,  rather  to  blame  than  the  victim? 
Can   society,  in  protection  to  itself,  allow  this  situation  to  continue? 

In  connection  with  this  whole  subject,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  low 
income  for  the  family  means  inability  to  provide  the  ordinary  necessities 
for  the  maintenance  of  vigor  and  good  health  and  the  little  luxuries  which 
satisfy  young  people.  In  the  face  of  the  constantly  rising  standard  of 
living  and  of  the  increasing  cost  of  living,  the  low  wage  for  the  young 

127 


man  means  postponement  of  ninrriaRe.  and  this  in  turn  paves  the  way  for 
promiscnous  relations  with  the  opposite  sex.  Indeed,  it  is  the  conchision 
of  social  and  economic  experts  that  the  age  of  marriage  is  definitely  ad- 
vancing in  every  decade. 

Your  Commission  can  not  at  this  time  do  more  than  suggest  some 
possible  remedies.  They  will,  we  hclicve,  be  found,  first,  in  recourse  to 
the  legal  right  of  society,  represented  by  the  state,  to  further  guard  the 
entrance  of  the  young  girl  into  industrial  cnii)loyment,  also  to  enforce  such 
social  conditions  surroimding  employment  of  all  women  as  will  lessen  the 
pressure  on  the  individual  and  encourage  the  development  of  physical  and 
moral  stamina.  Possibly  such  restrictions  in  the  employment  of  the  young 
girl  can  best  be  secured  by  a  statute  shortening  her  hours  of  labor;  this  in 
effect  would  make  them  less  desirable  economically  and  result  automatically 
in  their  being  displaced  by  older  persons. 

Your  Commission  would  suggest  as  a  further  means  of  meeting  the 
situation,  the  education  of  public  opinion  in  this  field  to  the  point  where  it 
will  demand  a  living  wage  and  proper  working  and  social  conditions  for 
those  who  serve  them  in  industry. 


128 


Report  of  Committee  on  Recreation. 

The  question  of  recreation  in  relation  to  social  vice  is  of  the  greatest 
importance.  It  involves  the  whole  problem  of  the  proper  use  of  leisure 
time.  It  offers  a  means  of  "invigoration  of  manhood,"  and  therefore  is  a 
preventive  agent. 

The  form  of  recreation  in  which  any  individual  indulges  depends  upon 
what  he  wants  and  upon  what  is  available.  What  he  wants  is  predicated 
upon  what  he  has  done  during  the  rest  of  his  waking  period  and  upon  his 
training,  or  in  other  words,  his  ideals  of  what  is  desirable,  amusing, 
stimulating.  What  is  available  represents  the  concern  (1)  of  parents  as  to 
the  need  of  home  attractions ;  (2)  of  philanthopy  as  to  the  value  of  experi- 
mental provision  of  means  of  recreation;  (3)  of  commercial  interests 
which  combine  money-making  with  pleasure-giving;  (4)  of  the  community 
itself  for  giving  to  all  the  people  the  opportunities  to  endow  the  mind  with 
exhilarating  impressions  and  the  body  with  recuperating  vigor. 

Our  industrial  situation  encourages  many  persons  to  enter  employment 
too  early,  before  bod}'  and  mind  are  fitted  to  stand  up  under  the  environ- 
ment in  factory  and  store.  Here  they  are  often  subjected  to  a  monotonous 
grind  which  in  turn  causes  them  to  cry  out  for  restorative  excitement.  Or 
the  home  itself  may  be  so  uncomfortable  as  to  practically  drive  the  young 
people  into  outside  avenues  for  their  enjoyment.  Furthermore,  parents 
too  often  are  lax  in  giving  that  training  to  children  which  would  make 
them  proof  against  degrading  pastimes. 

In  the  city  the  streets  soon  become  unavavilable  for  recreation  purposes 
and  the  vacant  lots  disappear.  This  means  that  somebody  other  than  the 
individual  or  family  must  provide  most  of  the  opportunities  for  occupying 
leisure  time.  Unfortunately,  much  is  at  first  left  to  commercial  interests 
along  this  line  before  the  community  begins  to  do  its  part,  and  they  are 
not  always  concerned  about  the  quality  of  their  wares. 

The  saloon,  the  theatre,  the  moving  picture  show,  the  dance  halls, — all 
these  and  other  so-called  means  of  recreation  can  easily  be  and  in  some 
instances  are,  feeders  of  vice.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  them  can  be 
just  the  opposite.  There  is  no  question  but  that  sometimes  there  are  given 
in  this  city,  theatrical  performances  which  have  absolutely  no  other  appeal 
than  to  the  sensual.  The  time  will  come  when  the  people  of  Minneapolis 
will  look  back  with  wonder  and  remorse  at  the  complacency  with  which 
they  tolerated  the  kind  of  theatres  which  regularly  present  shows  of  a 
revolting  and  debasing  character.  They  are  in  our  midst  now  and  need 
attention. 

There  is  only  one  issue  here,  a  common-sense  issue :  it  is  whether 
the  community,  acting  through  its  officials,  will  regard  the  moral  welfare  of 
its  citizens  as  of  sufficient  importance  to  their  happiness  and  to  the  safety 
of  the  city,  as  to  devise  ways  to  regulate  the  commercialized  forms  of 
entertainment  and  to  provide  at  public  expense  as  many  form  of  recrea- 
tion as  possible  for  the  use  of  the  whole  people. 

In  Minneapolis  there  are  at  present  thirty-two  moving  picture  theatres 
with  a  combined  seating  capacity  of  something  over  10.000.  Their  number 
has  more  than  doubled  in  the  last  year.  It  is  conservatively  estimated  that 
at  least  30,000  persons  per  day  attend  these  shows.  Here  is  an  index  of 
the  craving  of  people  for  the  kind  of  recreation  that  appeals  to  the  imagina- 

129 


tion.  It  is  said  that  90  per  cent  of  the  films  shown  around  the  country 
are  censored  by  the  National  Censorship  Board  in  New  York.  As  to  the 
other  10  per  cent,  some  watchfulness  is  needed  in  every  city,  to  protect 
patrons  from  that  which  appeals  merely  to  the  lower  instincts.  Another 
thing  of  importance  in  this  connection  is  the  matter  of  proper  lighting 
of  moving-picture  theatres.  Darkness  is  a  dangerous  condition.  Experi- 
ments have  shown  that  lighting  facilities  of  certain  types  are  available  so 
that  pictures  may  be  clearly  seen.  It  may  be  well  for  the  school  board  and 
park  board  to  consider  whether  they  could  not  with  propriety  enter  this 
field  and  offer  a  class  of  pictures,  of  the  very  highest  educational  and 
dramatic  value,  with  no  trace  of  vulgarity  or  sensuality. 

Eight  regular  public  dance  halls  and  a  number  of  other  semi-public 
halls  offer  the  kind  of  recreation  which  mingles  the  sexes  intimately. 
Thousands  of  young  people  weekly  take  advantage  of  these  opportunities. 
But  the  perils  inherent  are  perfectly  obvious.  There  are  observers  in  posi- 
tions of  authority  who  declare  that  the  public  dance  hall  is  the  most 
prolific  cause  of  the  downfall  of  girls.  If  this  is  only  half  true,  it  should 
give  sharp  concern  to  parents  and  all  public  authorities  in  position  to 
remedy  the  situation. 

The  warnings  of  fathers  and  mothers  are  doubtless  all  too  infrequent 
as  to  the  dangers  of  these  places.  But  in  spite  of  warnings,  many  young 
people  would  frequent  them.  Hence  it  is  absolutely  essential  that  they 
be  rigorously  supervised  by  the  police  in  order  to  keep  out  known  prosti- 
tutes, panderers  and  shady  characters  generally ;  that  improper  actions  by 
couples  while  on  the  floor  be  prohibited ;  and  that  watch  be  kept  as  far 
as  possible  upon  what  transpires  as  the  patrons  are  leaving  the  hall. 

Our  Park  Board  in  providing  beautiful  parks,  playgrounds,  boating 
facilities,  etc.,  is,  in  a  positive  way,  helping  to  reduce  the  volume  of 
viciousness  in  Minneapolis ;  so  also,  the  School  Board  in  providing  school 
play  places  and  social  centers  for  the  use  of  young  and  old.  Wise  super- 
vision of  playgrounds,  proper  policing  of  parks  and  efficient  direction  of 
the  neighborhood  centers  is,  of  course,  essential  if  they  are  to  be  kept  free 
from  insidious  influence  of  those  who  would  use  them  for  wrong  purposes. 
More  neighborhood  playgrounds,  especially  of  the  larger  sort,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  pageant  and  water  carnival  idea,  organization  of  more  fre- 
quent city-wide  athletic  contests,  offer  possibilities  for  community  pastimes 
of  a  high  order. 

Too  strong  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  upon  the  value  of  the  work  of 
the  Library  Board  in  providing,  besides  its  regular  service,  branch  reading 
rooms  about  the  city.  The  latter  need  extension.  The  young  man  or 
woman  with  the  habit  of  reading  good  literature,  has  one  weapon  against 
the  lure  of  vice. 

The  many  enterprises  like  the  social  settlements,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W. 
C.  A.  are  important  assets  in  the  life  of  our  city,  and  work  in  their  whole- 
some, substitutional  way  against  the  growth  of  our  vice  problem.  And 
right  here  lie  some  of  the  great  opportunities  for  personal  service  by  those 
who  have  leisure  time  and  crave  for  means  to  exercise  the  altruistic  spirit. 

Finally,  to  the  parents  would  this  Commission  address  itself  seriously 
on  this  general  subject  of  recreation.  With  some  attention  paid  by  them 
to  the  making  of  attractive  homes,  at  least  part  of  the  problem  of  preven- 
tion  is    solved.     Even   with   parental   love   assumed,   there    is   something 

130 


needed  on  the  material  side.  Parents  must  actually  learn  wha'^ion.  every 
home  attractions  and  then  how  to  provide  at  least  some  of  them,  hey  never 
small  income.  Right  along  this  line  the  social  centers  have  a  lar^  'ning  as 
tunity  for  instruction  of  adults.  It  is  a  common  observation  that  .idustry 
days  the  home  is  "getting  the  vi^orst  of  it."  The  down-pulling  an  them 
pulling  forces  (not  all  of  them  bad,  however),  are  many.  The  call  i. 
fore  is  urgent  for  immediate  attention  to  the  question  of  what  are  t"^. 
essentials  of  a  home  that  will  keep  its  hold  on  the  children.  Absorption  ni 
the  daily  grind  is  no  excuse  for  turning  the  home  into  a  mere  restaurant 
or  a  lodging  house.  The  home  must  be  preserved  at  all  hazards  and 
every  cost.    When  that  goes,  chaos  is  come. 


ISl 


tion.     It  r    Report  of  Committee  on  Rescue  and  Reform. 

are  ccnsc 

other  If  committee  is  pleased  to  report  that  much  good,  practical  influ- 
patron  being  exerted  constantly  in  this  city  in  behalf  of  young  women 
"]'"Pirls  who  may  be  exposed  to  immoral  tendencies,  or  who  may  have 
o'  ?\  into  bad  habits.  Our  Maternity  Hospital,  the  Florence  Crittenton 
lyime,    Bethany   Home,   and   the   Sisters   of    the   Good   Shepherd,   are  all 

doing  their  part,  nobly,  in  the  interest  of  the  weak,  the  wayward  and  the 

vicious. 

1.  The  large  institution  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
is  located  almost  midway  between  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  altho  it  is 
within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  St.  Paul.  It  ministers  to  the  needs  of  both 
communities. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd  have  had  charge  of  this  work  of 
rescue  and  reform  of  young  women  in  the  city  of  St.  Paul  about  forty- 
two  years.  The  institution  has  two  distinct  departments,  one  for  the 
preservation  of  very  young  girls,  who  might  be  exposed  to  immoral  influ- 
ence, and  the  other  for  the  reclamation  of  the  fallen.  Needless  to  state, 
the  two  departments  are  kept  strictly  apart  and  distinct  from  each  other. 
The  building  is  constructed  in  such  a  manner  that  the  juveniles  in  the 
preservation  classes  can  never  come  in  contract  with  those  in  the  reforma- 
tory, or  form  acquaintance  with  them.  The  institution  is  supported  by 
charitable  donations,  by  contributions  from  parents  or  guardians,  who 
may  place  the  inmates  in  the  home,  and  by  the  income  from  the  labor  of 
the  inmates,  the  laundry  and  sewing  department.  The  Sisters  consecrate 
their  lives,  without  compensation,  to  this  work  of  rescue  and  reform.  It 
is  a  settled  policy  with  them  never  to  advertise,  nor  to  solicit  girls  to  enter 
their  institution.  A  large  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  neither  prudent 
nor  practical  to  pursue  such  a  course.  Girls  are  placed  in  the  Institution  by 
parents  or  guardians,  and  by  the  municipal  courts,  who  may  leave  it 
optional  with  girls  convicted  of  immorality,  to  serve  a  sentence  in  the 
Workhouse,  or  go  to  the  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  The  Home  is 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  is  recognized  as  a  Catholic 
charity,  but  the  Sisters  make  no  distinction  of  creed  or  of  color,  but 
admit  all  who  apply,  and  treat  all  with  equal  impartiality.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  fifty-two  young  girls,  juveniles,  in  the  preservation  depart- 
ment, and  eighty  girls  in  the  reformatory.  The  Sisters  also  have  a  depart- 
ment, or  section  of  their  institution,  known  as  the  "Magdalens."  In  this 
class,  practically  all  are  women  who  had  lapsed  from  virtue,  are  now 
reformed  and,  of  their  own  free  will,  enter  this  class  for  life.  They  are 
happy  and  contented  in  their  absolute  safety  from  all  evil  influences,  and 
lead  most  edifying  lives  of  purity  and  self-denial.  In  the  Magdalen  class  at 
the  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd  there  are  forty-four,  at  the  present  time. 

The  system  pursued  by  the  Sisters  in  the  care  of  these  young  girls 
and  fallen  women,  is  one  of  kindness,  gentleness  and  firmness. 

They  are  treated  not  as  criminals,  nor  outcasts,  but  as  human  beings, 
who  need  encouragement  and  kindly  sympathy.  All  reference  to  their  pre- 
vious habits  or  conduct  before  they  entered  the  Home  is  strictly  pro- 
hibited. Evil  is  never  discussed,  nor  referred  to.  The  lessons  and  examples 
of  virtue  are  made  attractive.     The  girls  are  interested  only  in  what  is 

132 


wholesome  and  elevating.  After  the  girls  leave  the  institution,  every 
effort  is  made  by  the  Sisters  to  keep  in  touch  with  them,  and  they  never 
lose  interest  in  them.  The  Sisters  are  believers  in  industrial  training  as 
a  protection  against  temptation.  The  girls  are  taught  habits  of  industry 
while  inmates  of  the  Home,  and  every  effort  is  made  to  convince  them 
that  labor  and  industry  are  refining  and  elevating. 

Pregnant  women  are  not  admitted  to  the  House  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 
and  they  have  no  provision  for  the  care  of  this  class.  A  large  percentage 
of  unfortunate  girls  are  unable  to  help  themselves,  because  of  their  poverty 
at  this  most  trying  experience  of  their  lives.  Too  often  the  guilty  partner 
in  her  fall  abandons  the  unhappy  girl  to  her  desolate  fate.  It  is  difficult 
for  the  poor  girl  to  find  a  safe  home  for  her  child,  even  when  she  is  will- 
ing and  anxious  to  contribute  to  its  support.  The  most  sacred  instinct  of 
the  human  heart  is  too  often  scoffed  at,  mother  love,  if  the  mother  happens 
to  be  the  victim  of  a  man  without  conscience  or  honor.  In  the  mother  in- 
stinct of  the  unfortunate  girl  is  found  the  best  foundation  for  her  return 
to  a  life  of  virtue. 

2.  The  Florence  Crittenton  Home  was  reorganized  about  two  years 
ago.  This  organization  is  looking  after  the  younger  girls.  They  have  had 
under  their  care  during  this  period  (two  years),  eighty-three  girls,  fifty- 
four  of  whom  were  sent  to  the  organization  from  the  Humane  Society, 
four  from  the  Juvenile  Court,  one  from  the  District  Court,  thirteen  from 
the  Municipal  Court,  four  from  the  Police  Matron,  two  from  the  Asso- 
ciated Charities,  three  came  voluntarily,  and  two  were  brought  by  parents. 

The  girls  are  under  a  wholesome  home  influence  and  they  are  taught 
to  sew,  wash,  cook  and  many  things  along  educational  lines,  and  are  in 
fact  prepared  for  useful  home  life.  At  the  present  time  there  are  about 
twenty  girls  in  the  Institution  and  the  rooms  are  very  crowded.  The 
Board  of  Managers  are  contemplating  a  larger  building. 

3.  The  Maternity  Hospital  is  making  a  specialty  of  girls  who  are 
unfortunate  for  the  first  time.  During  the  past  year,  ending  November 
30th,  1909,  they  had  cared  for  a  total  of  114  women.  Admitted  for  con- 
finements, seventy-three;  unmarried,  forty-one;  married,  thirty-two. 
Babies  born,  forty-four  girls  and  thirty-six  boys.  Women  in  the  Hospital 
beginning  of  year,  seventy.  Total  number  of  babies  cared  for,  one  hundred 
twenty-five.  The  quarters  are  now  quite  adequate,  having  built  in  the  past 
few  months  a  fine  nursery  and  a  nurses'  dormitory. 

Inquiry  among  the  girls  that  have  been  in  the  institution  since  its 
founding,  reveals  the  fact  that  not  one  of  them  knew  of  the  organization 
before  they  got  into  trouble. 

This  organization  is  non- sectarian. 


133 


NOTES. 

1.     The  Police  and  Evidence. 

When  citizens  see  upon  the  streets  at  night  a  woman  who  is  marked 
by  her  dress  and  manner  as  a  member  of  the  demi  monde,  they  are  likely 
to  think  that  the  police  should  at  once  arrest  her  as  a  street  walker,  or 
at  least  drive  her  from  public  view.  Such  a  woman,  however,  is  not  liable 
to  arrest  nor  amenable  to  the  orders  of  the  police  merely  because  of  her 
known  character  and  occupation.  She  must  be  proven  to  have  actually 
committed  or  bargained  for  indiscriminate  sexual  commerce  before  the 
law  can  lay  its  hands  upon  her  as  a  common  prostitute.  Citizens  observe 
suspicious  circumstances  in  their  neighborhood,  carriages  and  automobiles 
discharge  their  passengers  at  a  residence  or  apartment  late  in  the  night 
and  stand  awaiting  them  until  early  morning,  strange  women  go  in  and 
out,  beer  wagons  make  frequent  visits  to  the  premises,  and  they  are  quick 
to  criticise  if  the  police  do  not  promptly  discover  and  eliminate  their  ob- 
jectionable neighbors.  They  forget  that  even  the  harlot's  home  may  be  her 
castle;  that  the  police  cannot  lawfully  make  a  raid  that  is  not  based  on 
more  conclusive  evidence  than  mere  suspicion,  however  well  founded ;  and 
that  the  difficulties  of  getting  legal  evidence  sufficient  to  convict  the  keeper 
of  a  place  of  immoral  resort  who  is  fairly  prudent  in  the  selection  of  her 
patrons,  is  very  great.  Not  infrequentl}',  when  arrests  are  made  and 
prosecutions  instituted,  evidence  that  amounts  to  moral  certainty  falls  short 
of  the  technical  conclusiveness  that  is  required  by  law,  and  the  result  of 
long  and  painstaking  effort  on  the  part  of  the  police  is  a  discouraging  ac- 
quittal, perhaps  with  threats  of  a  suit  for  damages.  These  facts  should  be 
kept  in  mind,  and  criticism  of  the  police  should  be  withheld  or  modified 
accordingly, 

2.  Segregation  and  Housing  Conditions. 

Admitting  that  lewd  women  have  sought  lodgment  in  residence  dis- 
tricts, there  is  always  this  encouraging  aspect  to  the  case :  the  situation  at 
its  worst  is  but  a  temperary  one ;  citizens  have  the  remedy  always  at  hand 
of  a  protest  to  the  police  and  in  case  of  necessity  may  always  exercise 
individual  initiative  to  drive  the  objectionable  parties  out  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. Compare  this  situation  with  the  helplessness  and  hopelessness  of 
that  part  of  the  community  afflicted  with  the  presence  of  a  recognized  arid 
officially  tolerated  segregated  district  in  its  midst!  Important  factors  in 
this  connection  are  the  character  of  the  population  of  the  Minneapolis  com- 
munity, and  the  physical  and  housing  conditions  of  the  city.  The  absence 
of  the  great  hordes  of  foreigners  of  the  more  ignorant  class,  with  their  low 
standards  of  living  and  their  disposition  to  herd  together  in  congested 
districts,  and  the  lack  of  the  tenement  conditions  prevalent  in  so  many 
other  cities,  make  this  an  especially  favorable  location  for  making  a  success 
of  the  policy  of  non-segregation.  Minneapolis  is  still  a  city  made  up  mostly 
of  detached  homes,  and  the  community  yet  retains  many  of  the  conditions 
of  village  life,  with  its  keen  interest  in  neighborhood  affairs,  that  so  strong- 
ly characterized  its  earlier  years.  This  situation  must  continue  to  make 
it  difficult  for  vicious  persons  to  maintain  themselves  in  residence  districts, 
or  other  places  where  their  presence  would  be  a  moral  menace,  without 
spirited  protests  by  citizens  and  effective  police  action.  Any  added  diffusion 
"of  the  social  evil  under  the  congested  conditions  that  prevail  in  some  cities 
might  have  a  peculiarly  sinister  aspect  and  serve  as  a  strong  argument  for 
a  policy  of  segregation. 

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